Storytime with April - Part Two

Posted on Fri Feb 28th, 2025 @ 6:34pm by Franklin Armstrong & Grand Admiral April Yamaguchi

Mission: Mission 120: All Along the Watchtowers - Part Two
Location: Various Locations - Canmore, Earth
Timeline: 1905Hrs - February 3rd, 2394

April grinned as she remembered her time on this ship. She had spent time serving at the ship's Conn, but she was mostly a weapons and tactics woman. "The Yellowstone was an old breed of ship. A relic from an older time. You could feel how the engines were doing with the rumble of the deck plates. When I couldn't sleep. I'd simply reach under my bunk for my sleeping blanket, and then sleep on the floor, letting the rumble lull me off to sleep." Yamaguchi slowly grinned. "You'll never find that on today's ships of the line. They are flat and boring. I sometimes miss the rumbling of the deck plates." she mused softly.

Franklin grinned as he regarded his spouse. "April?" he asked in a soft tone of voice. "You're getting off of the topic."

"Mmm... Oh." Yamaguchi paused. "Right," she added after a moment. "Anyway. The Yellowstone and her crew were between assignments as it was almost New Year's. We were all expecting a few days off from our various assignments. So we could relax and have a decent New Year's party." Yamaguchi lowly smiled as she recalled the events. "Anyway. At the time. I was a ship driver. But while I was good. I was no Heather Yamaguchi or Jake Yamaguchi. Your aunt and uncle. Twins. Now they had the chops for it, whereas I didn't." she paused. "Anyway. I was working with some of the tactical guys about learning the finer points of making things explode. Later though. I found my calling in Operations." she paused. "But I was asked to deliver a report to Engineering. Which I did. I was then asked about the unusual orders by the Chief Engineer. A man who would become a friend of mine later on. I had no idea what he was talking about. Strange orders?" Yamaguchi then shook her head. "That was news to me at the time."

Franklin regarded his spouse as she lapsed into silence. He knew that a tale such as this could not be rushed. It would be told at its own pace and not any faster. He regarded the swirling snowstorm as it raged outside of their front window. He then shifted his attention back to his spouse as she sipped her drink. It was her way of asking for a moment to compose herself. This tale could and often did get very emotional.

Yamaguchi resumed her tale. "Now I was more confused than anything else. So I delivered the report before heading back to the magazines. I was taking a report back. So I was something of an errand girl at the time." she paused a moment. "So I went to look for my section head and I asked him what the chief had asked me. He explained that we were to take all of our torpedoes out of storage and give them the once over. Check them twice." she paused. "It was clear that something was going on somewhere."

"Someone's gonna get it!" Kimora chanted with a wide smile on her face but she stopped after her first utterance of the statement.

Yamaguchi regarded her daughter in a moment of amusement. "It was about that point when the rumour mill exploded. You guys know how rumours get around. Except this was with hundreds of people all talking. But nobody knew what was going on. All it did was scare people." she then let out a long sigh. "It looked like New years was cancelled." she sighed softly. "The news came only hours later that not was it canceled. We were preparing to go off to war against a new foe." she added.

Franklin knew that this was a very painful time for his spouse but he opted to say nothing and leave it be. For now.

Yamaguchi resumed her tale after a moment. "Watching the news service told us a few things. A Federation starship had gone missing. The USS Lalo was a small logistical support ship. She was carrying a consignment of cargo from Zeta Alpha Two to Sentinal Minor Four." she looked at the faces of her children, each in turn. "Less than three hours into her journey. A distress call was received at Starbase One Five-Seven. The Lalo reported contact with a cube-shaped vessel." she said the last three words as if underlining a great point. "The distress call ended abruptly and she was never heard from ever again," she added in a quiet tone of voice.

The children all traded looks as April slowly proceeded on with her tale. "The Starbase had no ships with which to send assistance so they passed the message on to Starfleet Command. They also passed it off to various other Starbases. That was how Admiral Hanson came into the picture." she slowly sighed. "He was the one who began defence preparations to face this new threat." she paused a moment to allow her children to process this information.