EPISODE 03, P1, Chapter 01: Bloody, yet Unbowed

[ Theta Eridani IV | Acamar System | Beta Quadrant | 1930 hrs. ]

Captain's Log, Star Date 57505.17. Almost twenty-four hours have passed since the Calamity starship retreated, and we have successfully reached the fourth planet of the Acamar System. We have landed in a valley surrounded by mountains, powered down our ships to the point where we ought to be virtually invisible - hoping that the false Warp trail will lead our new enemy astray. Together with the crew of the USS Harbinger, who share our plight and fought by our side, we have begun repairs and initial discussions about exchange of crew. So many have died or been put in stasis units - like coffins with dead that are to be resurrected on a brighter day. For after all that has happened, this past day was perhaps the darkest of them all... despite the fact that we are no longer alone.

- Captain Jien Ives, Commanding Officer of the USS Theurgy


The smoke clung low to the ground, hovering in a scarlet tenuous mist. The rhythmic clangs and squeals of machinery and cranes echoed throughout the smoggy valley as the light fumes swirled about, churning with the firelight in a nebula of red and yellow. The lights on the cranes far above moved lazily while the repairs to the hulls were made. Amidst the cluttering clashes and whirs of toil - the machines labouring in their interminable duties and the plethora of clangs and clashes continuing monochrome song - two crews intermingled and spoke. Working together to create their temporary settlement.

Acamar was a binary star system and thus had two stars at its centre, yet Theta Eridani IV lay too far out to be graced with warm nights. One of the suns had yet to set, but already the chill turned everyone's breath into mist. Bonfires were set up to keep everyone warm and rid the need of coats. Several paths were set across the valley, made with crude torches. Many carried torches of their own to light their way and to keep warm. It was needed because both the Theurgy and the Harbinger were in Grey Mode. Power was cut since the tactical situation required a discretionary removal of energy usage. Only the machines that made the repairs and their long range sensors were allowed full operational status.

It had been an undiscriminating choice from both Captains. The Warp Cores were shut down cold. Weapons systems, phasers and photon torpedo launchers, all brought off-line. Life support systems were brought to minimum levels since the M-Class planet had plenty of oxygen that could be filtered inside, yet the air was left as cold as the outside. Transporter and turbolift usage was terminated and suspended. Food replicators were powered down, and emergency rations distributed. To care for the wounded, both ships had raised all the triage centre canvas they could find into a joyless circus area - medics working hard without rest to preserve as many lives they could from being lost.

Captain Ives, in her female form, walked through the firelight - seeing a mix of subdued faces and people relived to have found others that had been falsely accused of treason. To meet another crew served to verify that the truth about their dire task was neither misinformation not misplaced belief. In that, there was gladness, despite the fact that they had lost so many.

Jien reached the middle ground, the equidistant point right between the two starships. Both crews had been summoned there, so the noises of the repairs had gradually fallen silent. By the time Jien reached the open area - finding Captain Vasser waiting there - the entire valley had fallen silent. She inclined her head to the human, their brief meetings having led to the understanding that they both needed to facilitate their alliance by a public address. They had only delayed the initiative so that the Tactical Conn pilots who created the Warp trail could return. For let there be no doubt that they stood together in their fight for the truth.

Her steps drew to a halt, and she turned to face the same direction as Vasser did - her unblinking gaze staring out across the crowd. The silence lingered before Jien raised her clear voice, making it carry across the quiescence of the valley.

"To all those who do not know me, I am Captain Jien Ives of the USS Theurgy, and beside me stands the Commanding Officer of the Harbinger, Captain Declan Vasser," she said and gestured with her gloved hand towards the man. She paused again, not quite sure how to proceed. She shook her head, taking a deep breath. "It would be trite and not wholly accurate to say that no words would be able to describe how we all feel this day. There is so much to consider. So much to remember. So many faces that we wished were here today, when we have found allies in an otherwise hostile galaxy."

She folded her arms underneath her chest and paced slowly out towards the crowd before her, head lowered. "For almost three months, we have fought to preserve something so intangible, vague, as a mere idea - however firmly we have verified it and believed in it. It has been a profound and unforgettable understanding that we face an enemy no one else have come to see, but time has worn on, and the trials make you forget. Until yesterday... when we learned that others have seen what we have. Some of you may have been in doubt, unsure as to what we learned should verily be taken as fact. Besides the victory from yesterday, that we managed to defend ourselves and drive off the unmanned starship that was sent by the enemy to destroy us both, we have won an even more important battle - the battle against our doubts. We stand here - tonight - united in understanding, shedding those doubts... even though it cost too many lives. Precious friends and faces that we will always remember."

Bathed in firelight, Jien took out a piece of paper from her pocket, forehead furrowed at the memory of seeing half her Senior Staff shot down in front of her. Nevertheless, she raised her chin again, voice still ringing true. "Before we join together in a minute of silence, I would like to read an old poem that I have always placed value in since my Academy days. I hope you will take heart in these words, like I will, and not be alarmed about how eerily they have predicted this time in our lives."

The paper in her hand danced in a slow breeze, yet she needed not truly read the words. She knew them by heart.

"Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul."

The second sun set behind rim of the valley, and it made the fires burn all the brighter.

"In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed."

For that was what they were, bloodied as hell, yet not about to yield.

"Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid."

Her voice rang firmer as each word fell, instilling fortitude and hope into the two listening crews.

"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."

The last word echoed across the valley, and as it did, Jien folded her hands behind her back and raised her chin - the ensuing silence filled with the shared memories of those they had lost. Thus they stood, in united quietude... before Captain Vasser spoke up - the spell lifting from the crowd. His would be a more joyful message, healing those wounds and helping to unite the crews in their common cause.

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