The Dual-Minded are Unstable - Part Three

Posted on Fri Jan 1st, 2021 @ 2:17pm by Captain Kayden Nell & Captain Sarah Horner & Commander Tressa Brislan-Antilles & Commander Victoria 'Enyo' Yamaguchi & Fleet Captain Heather Walking Bear & Commander Alyssa Temetti & Commander Kolar, Son of Magh'tor & Commander Morae Stormstout & Commander Shaalari Zh'Terran & Lieutenant Commander Meslina Amakawa & Lieutenant Sapata M'Herris & Lieutenant Commander Ouros Yamaguchi & Commodore T'Shaamet 'Runt' Antilles & Command Master Chief Petty Officer Elizabeth Smithson & Colonel James "Gryphon" McTaggert

Mission: Mission 105: The Mirror, Shattered
Location: Various Locations - USS Infinity / New Halana
Timeline: 0920Hrs - October 6th, 2393

Commodore T'Shaamet regarded the tactical display as the sounds of combat began to be heard as the sounds of weapon strikes could be heard through the ships hull, due to the effects of said strikes against USS Infinity's shields, she was able to sweep aside the vast majority of those weapons as Kayden Nell smiled. He launched two dozen missiles against the Imperials, he had intended to drive them off and not kill them. There were two Excelsiors and one Pathfinder which was targeting the Infinity herself while the Akira plus has starfighters were attacking the New Halanan forces present. It was turning into a messy and bloody battle.

Amakawa turned her head. "Skipper, we're getting a transmission coming in. It's on all channels... and its from San Fransisco on Earth... All Imperial forces are being ordered to stand down and cease all hostilities at once..." she paused as she noticed that the Imperials were following these new orders. "Sir, the Imperials are standing down," she reported.

Horner nodded her head. "Kayden, cease-fire."

"Aye Commander." the Bajoran answered with a nod of his head.

T'Shaamet raised an eyebrow as she lightly tapped the combadge that had been affixed to her uniform above her left breast. "Antilles to Yamaguchi. Could you both please come up here?" she inquired.

"On my way sir." came the voice of Ouros, she seemed to sound a little different then what she did but T'Shaamet knew of why this was the case, the younger woman had been freed from several of her demons recently and she needed time to process her losses and her gains. T'Shaamet thought about all of these details as she heard the second woman named Yamaguchi answer her summons with the usual military-style manners that the small Vulcan had come to expect from Enyo.

The turbolift door opened as the two women emerged. "You wanted to see us, Captain?" Enyo asked in a soft tone.

"Yes... It seems the Imperial Federation has been overthrown, the Imperial force has been recalled... and we received a transmission on all subspace channels, it came in a few minutes ago." T'Shaamet explained. "I wanted your perspective on the matter before we see the transmission."

Enyo shifted her attention to the viewscreen which showed only a tactical display. "Someone has taken out the government on Earth and the Admiralty. There are not many who could pull this off on short notice. Tom Lasky could, maybe Stephen Caldwell... April and Jake Yamaguchi are both dead... Marie is on Vanguard and I'm here..." she paused as she shrugged. "Could be any one of a dozen people I know of..." she turned back to the Vulcan. "But without seeing the speech which they would send... I can't say a lot."

T'Shaamet nodded her head. "Meslina... Display the message we intercepted up on the main viewscreen." the small Vulcan inquired and when the person's face appeared on the screen, she was suddenly glad she was sitting down. "I thought you said she was dead..." Horner said quietly.

"I watched her die..." Enyo and Ouros commented at the same time.

April Yamaguchi was wearing a standard duty uniform, with the full uniform top except it was without the Imperial adornments. Enyo recognized her uniform top as the old-style uniform as worn by the Federation in the late twenty-three sixties with the black shoulders, the coloured top and the coloured line around the top of the collar with four golden rank pips. "My fellow Federation citizens... I come before you on this day... To issue a call to reason... While we have tried to maintain what we have taken illegally from others... The tide of an unwinnable war has turned against us... Except there was an even greater conflict that we had lost and lost poorly... Robert Leyton is dead... Whatever security the Imperial Federation once provided is a memory, a phantom... With our enemies left unchecked?. Who will you turn to for protection..."

Yamaguchi paused to breathe out and then back in again. "I issue this call to reason... There is no leadership, the senate is all dead, as are the falsely appointed lords... The Admiralty are all slain... Murdered in the name of Fear... For its that same fear that has poisoned all of our souls over these long twenty years... The wars we have fought with each other have been in the name of glory.... Except they too were in the name of terror... Fear... The fear of the Dominion was what brought us here... Robert Leyton surrendered all of us in the name of his fear... On the altar of his terror and we have been inflicting pain and misery on anyone who we felt crossed us ever since."

Yamaguchi paused a moment as if to consider what else she wished to say. "To this end, I am declaring martial law... While the Empire is dissolved and the Federation is restored. To the Romulans and the Cardassians who I know are listening... Keep the worlds you have... If you leave us alone... We will leave you alone..." she paused. "Or at the very least. I will listen to peace offers... To the citizens of the Empire... Send your representatives back to the Federation council... Which must be reformed. I also call for free and fair elections on all member worlds to take place to elect representatives for the people. By the people within the next six months, at which time the present state of emergency will end." Yamaguchi paused. "When this situation is over... and the Federation is restored... I shall surrender myself to the judgment of the people... and I can expect no mercy for I deserve none..."

Yamaguchi paused a moment before she pressed ahead."The Federation must be reborn... It must rise and we must cast off our fear... So we can heal and redress our wounds that we have inflicted on all of us... The worlds we have poisoned and slain in the name of our fear... "

Yamaguchi paused to breathe out and then back in again. "Nothing I have done since turning against the Empire will make up for the atrocities I once committed in their name. Somewhere deep inside I knew it was wrong, a voice I did not recognize screamed for me to stop. I saw no way out, it was the way things were, they could not be changed. I tried to convince yourself the people I was hurting deserved it. I became numb to their pain and suffering, I learned to shut out the voice speaking against it." Yamaguchi shrugged her shoulders that said she was helpless rather than not caring. "But there's always a choice. I chose to ignore it and yet, I sit here, and I cannot imagine the day when I will forgive myself for my crimes against sentient life."

Yamaguchi paused a moment. "Because the forgiveness I seek and desire will never come. One day others may try to convince me they have forgiven me, that is more about them than me. For them, imparting forgiveness is a blessing." she paused. "So, how do you go on?

Yamaguchi addressed the monitor before her. "It is simple. You will never forgive me. I must accept that. I hurt others, many others and that cannot be undone. I shall never find personal retribution, but you might, my fellow citizens... That which is right, just and true can still prevail. If you do not fight for what you believe in, all may be lost for everyone else. But do not fight for yourself, my fellow citizens... Fight for others, others that may yet be saved through your effort. Thank you, citizens, of the Federation... and goodnight." and with that, the screen faded back to the stars of Halana's orbital spaces.