Tora Tora Tora

[Atragon9 0]

::A9 stepped into his Ready Room to double check that he had all of the PADDs necessary for the initial entry plan to the shipyard. He noticed a blinking icon on his personal data desk and wondered who would send him anything while under subspace silence, behind the lines. Bringing the message up, he realized it came in just before they crossed the border and it came from the Federation Council's secure line. He sits at the desk and keys in his personal code::

 

Hmm, I wonder if the war is already over. Maybe we can go home, that would be a nice sur...

 

::He stopped speaking as the words appear on the screen and he started to read them. He sat, motionless, for 5 minutes, barely able to absorb the full impact. Then, his face hardened to a stony, cold, stare::

 

Now there can be no doubt, no wondering about the Right and Wrong of it all. The crew needs to know. ::He presses a comm button::

 

+COM+ This is the Admiral. Just before we crossed into Arcturan space, I received a report from the Federation Council. I will make it available on the common storage link for all to read, but allow me to provide the highlights. Yesterday, three Arcturan warships were seen approaching geological station GS-27, near the border. They were hailed and offered assistance, but the warships did not respond. Instead they opened fire on the station, destroying it completely. The station never returned fire, as it is not a defensive perimeter outpost. There are three short-range shuttles with some offensive capabilities, but they never made it out of their bay. Federation ships are enroute to look for survivors, but the station seems to have been destroyed, even the emergency beacon only transmitted for 9 minutes. The station's compliment was 270 men, women and children - all are presumed lost.

 

The war can no longer be kept from the general public and everyone now knows that the Arcturans have struck the first blow, it's just some of us that know that they have struck the first and second blows.

 

We are not being recalled from our mission, as we are still going to be collecting vital war intell and making the first strike for the Federation in this war.

 

::pauses for a few seconds::

 

Everyone to their battle stations, it is time for us to perform our duty. Atragon out.

 

::He cuts the comm and transmits the detailed report to central storage. Then he stands up and strides back to the Bridge with a renewed sense of purpose, a moral rectitude and more than a little blood lust pulsing behind his eyes::

 

[Cmdr JFarrington 0]

The admiral's announcement jerked Jami mercilessly from sympathy to resolve. Activating red alert, she shifted her focus, the reality of war coming upon her in full force. Her peripheral vision caught Atragon exiting his ready room, but she didn't have to turn to discern his mood. His tone of voice on the comm, his purposeful stride, and his heavy, almost growling breaths were all she needed. But nature had another plan. For the first time in several months, her embryonic telepathy transferred a jolt of deep-seated rage that washed through her from his direction.

 

God help us, she thought. We're going to need it.