=/\= EAS Hermes - Admirals Bridge =/\=
Athena sat down in hopes of easy the pain on her right side a bit. With her elbows on her knees she held her head, she could feel the fear as if it were backing up in her throat threatening to choke her. It would be washed back on occasion by the anger that would swell like a wave from time to time. But, every once in awhile the death that permeated the atmosphere would take all precedence. It was all depressing and it crashed in upon her she fought to keep it in check. She took a deep breath and tried to envision a field filled with flowers and sunshine...something peaceful and serene.
Viktor shouted orders to maintain formation as the Kerberos took a direct hit to her impulse engines overloading the core much as had happened to Chimera only minutes before. Chimera accelerated towards what was likely to be the Romulan Command Warbird using her warp engines and flared brightly.
With the explosion of the Chimera, Athena was on her feet again, this time mostly with her own agitation. Taking a step or two to help alleviate her own devastating thoughts. {Who's injured? Who's.... didn't make it off? Who's..... dead?} Her last thought barely crossed her mind when the ship rocked and sent her taking another stumbling couple of steps.
Viktor caught her by her shoulders. "Steady. I'm sure most of them made it out safely. Keep it together now and we can deal with the aftermath shortly."
She bit her lip to keep from wincing out loud at the sudden stop. "I should have... I could have....." her mind races with possibilities and came to a screeching halt. "You said you were talking to Shane ..... here ..... why wasn't I ordered back to the Chimera?"
"I didn't ask about it as you weren't in the best of states at the time and Shane was more worried about gaining reinforcements for defending the Starbase...I'm not entirely sure if anyone but you and me know that you're here" Viktor kept his gaze on the tactical display trying to calculate an edge over the Romulan Forces to the rear.
"Hhhmmmm......," was Athena's brief reply. {Didn't think to mention it .... or .... Just didn't want to?} She looked at the screen but closed her eyes. {Now's not the time.... how many of those pods will make it? ...What awaits them on the surface.} Another bump of the ship jostled her; reminding her of her own pains. She leaned against a wall where she was out of the way and held her right arm close to her side giving it some support.
"General, it looks like the remaining Starfleet Ships are sallying forth from the Starbase moving to give us support!" A young NCO shouted from the secondary sensors panel at the rear of the Admiral's Bridge.
"Prepare for axial rotation, keep our strongest shields to the Romulans. Take us into the fire..." Viktor gave the order for the about turn so that they could engage the Romulans with the more powerful forward guns.
Athena slide to the floor and pressed herself into the wall and hoped that she wouldn't go to far. She kept her eyes closed and tried to keep track of what was going on with her sense. {Mistake..}popped into her head as she felt as if a sudden bolt of emotion ripped through her head. A tear streaked down her cheek as she willed herself to relax; first in thought and then muscle by muscle.
The Hermes was hit by a violent blast from a Romulan disruptor. "Shields at 32%. Power Supply to Innertial Dampners is fluctating expect turbulence." Came the shout from the Engineering Panel on the Admiral's Bridge."
She started to slip across the floor and tensed her legs brining herself to a sudden stop but not before she gently bumped into someone.
Viktor bent down and picked her up. "Stay with it it's almost over now." he said to her gently.
"General I have four ships inbound from the Third Fleet and they've got a THUD with them too...looks like one of the big ones..." Came the call from Captain Lockheart.
"Not to sound rude or anything...but put an end to this...please," she responded very quietly and suddenly very aware of how tired she felt. "And sorry for being a...pain."
Viktor flashed her a wicked grin "That my dear is exactly what I intend to do." Viktor turned back to the tactical display. "Request that they split the THUD's targets to get rid of the original group and some of those before us."
{Why?} she asked herself as she shook her head. {Now is not the time to find that smile cute..... or sexy.}
The Third Fleet THUD split into its constituent parts and headed towards their individual targets. The independent warheads slammed into the Romulan Warbirds around the Second Fleet and detonated with extreme prejudice taking out the ten Warbirds now to the rear of the Second Fleet and about five of the ones in front leaving only fifteen to split between the resilient Second Fleet and the steadily advancing Starfleet counterattack.
With a wicked smile of her own she asked, "Why aren't you always so obliging?"
With a wicked smile of her own she asked, "Why aren't you always so obliging?"
Viktor replied sideways "I'm male, we're known for being almost as stubborn as females."
"What do you mean almost....." Athena started, "you have me beat hands down."
"Must be my feminine side coming through." Viktor replied nonchalantly
Athena held her hands out in a sort of surrender and asked, "Show it often?" Her question seemed to indicate that he must ... at least according to her.
Viktor grinned "That depends if I'm winning the argument or not. Which more often than not I do unless I specifically intend to lose the argument."
=/\= End Log =/\=
General Viktor Ivanov
FCO
EAS Hermes
&
FCO
EAS Hermes
&
Commander Athena Wellington
Chief Counselor
USS Chimera-B
