The Denmark
Posted on Thu Oct 30th, 2025 @ 1:38pm by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake' & Commander Thomas Johnson & Commander Chisato Nishikigi & Lieutenant Commander Talia Johnson & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek & Lieutenant Nezuko & Lieutenant Commander Nyxala Valentine & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Lieutenant JG Vyse Ingelbard 'Buccaneer'
Edited on on Thu Oct 30th, 2025 @ 1:39pm
2,083 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
The Return
Tags:
The bridge was bathed in red light as the Tokyo dropped out of warp. The viewscreen showed the carnage of the attack. Three small Herald raiders circling like vultures above a heavily crippled Olympic Class hospital ship. The Denmark showed signs of heavy damage from the onslaught. Huge breaches in its spherical primary hull where the Heralds weapons had sliced through like soft cheese, along with one of its nacelles now floating freely after being blasted off. The top of the sphere was nothing now but a smouldering mess, the bridge and first few decks reduced to nothing but twisted metal and vacuum.
Debris from the ships interior and exterior circled the crippled ship, everything from hull fragments to parts of the crew and patients who had once being aboard. The Herald raiders continued to circle, strange purple cutting beams slicing away at the hull and tractor beams ripping out segments of the ships interior.
"Full attack speed!" Taiga ordered. "Hit them with everything we have! Weapons free!" She said her fist clenching. "Hit them fast and hit them hard!"
Lieutenant Yuvek's eyes rapidly assessed the tactical geometry - three raiders in a loose formation, circling the Denmark.
No point in subtlety with a ship this size.
"Bringing us in on attack vector alpha-seven," Lieutenant Yuvek called out, committing the Tokyo to a direct intercept course. "Angling for maximum firing solution - two raiders will be in direct line of fire."
The massive carrier accelerated toward the enemy formation, its sheer mass and speed making evasive maneuvers impossible but giving their approach undeniable momentum.
"Range: thirty thousand kilometers and closing fast. Coming in on their port flank." He said over his shoulder to Tactical.
Hit them hard before they can react. Before they can open those gateways... Jasad thought to himself.
"Firing!" Connor replied from the tactical station. "Phasers, tri-cobalt torpedoes. Everything."
Thomas hit the coms. "Johnson to fighter bay, prepare to engage the enemy. Hit em hard hit em fast."
The Tokyo charged at the Herald ships, the forward pulse phaser cannons erupting into life followed by a spread of torpedoes. The first raider was cut down in a matter of seconds, blasting it into millions of pieces. The Armitage class starship zoomed straight through the middle of its explosion, the debris of the raider bouncing off the shields causing then to glimmer and flicker streaks of blue.
"Bring us around," Taiga ordered. "Target the second raider, let's hot them again. Have the Starfighters launch and go after the third ship."
Lieutenant Yuvek's hands moved across his console with aggressive precision as the Tokyo tore through the debris of the first raider. The immediate threat assessment flickered across his display - two remaining targets, fighters deploying, the Denmark's wreckage creating navigational hazards throughout the engagement zone.
"Coming about," he announced, his fingers dancing across the helm controls. "New heading: two-seven-zero mark fifteen. Bringing us around for second attack run."
The massive carrier responded to his commands, banking in a wide arc that kept their forward weapons arrays aligned with the second raider. He wanted to keep the momentum and not give them time to coordinate or retreat.
"Second raider bearing zero-nine-two mark six," he reported, watching the enemy vessel attempt to adjust its position. "Intercept course locked. Range: twenty-two thousand kilometers and closing."
[Starfighter Bay]
"OK people, we've got some Heralds to kill." Snowflake's voice echoed through the comms. They were already lined up on the launch catapults. "Show them no mercy! This time it's personal!" She was obviously referring to how they had lost Silica a few weeks ago. "We're to split off from Tokyo and engage the third enemy. Captain's called for weapons free, so hit them as hard as you want, wherever you want!"
=/\=Yes, ma’am!=/\= called out Vyse for Ducati Squadron.
=A=Roger that, Snowflake,=A= Nozomi replied as she completed her final pre-flight checks. =A=I volunteer Triumph Squadron to target their shielding grid, hopefully lay them wide open for the others to finish off.=A=
"Target their shield grid, then pound them with everything we have!" Fubuki replied. "This one is for Silica!"
[Space]
Valkyrie starfighters burst out of the Tokyo's flight bay. In a matter of a minute the Tokyo was flanked by two squadrons. They formed into formation and banked starboard, running directly at the third raider.
Meanwhile the Tokyo's impulse engines fired up more, glowing even brighter as the starship made another run at the Herald raider. Purple beams from the raider struck the ships shields, causing them to flicker as the energy was partially dispersed and absorbed.
[Bridge]
Taiga watched as the Starfighters banked away. She couldn't help but smirk as she watched them zoom off towards the third ship. She knew that they were out for blood and felt a little sorry for the poor small Herald raider that was about to receive their wrath.
"Let's take that second ship out." She said. The Tokyo shook as another barrage of weapons fire from the raider struck their shields. She was thankful that these were only raiders and not a fully fledged warship.
Lieutenant Yuvek tracked the shield strength indicators on his console as they flickered under the Herald weapons fire. It was obvious that these raiders didn't have the firepower of their larger ships.
He maintained their attack vector as the Tokyo shuddered under enemy fire, his hands making constant micro-adjustments to keep them on course. The fighters peeled away on his tactical display, their smaller signatures racing toward the third raider with aggressive intent.
"Fighters away and engaging third target," he confirmed while keeping the Tokyo's trajectory locked on the second raider. "Maintaining attack run on raider two."
The enemy vessel was attempting to maneuver, but the massive carrier's momentum and positioning left it few options. "Target has limited maneuvering room - they're boxed in by the Denmark's wreckage." he called out to Tactical.
Connor paused for a brief moment. "If I can detonate a small charge close to the ship, we may be able to disable.' Connor replied from tactical. "Capturing one of those ships, would be an accomplishment."
"We could use the intelligence." Taiga said. "Make it happen!"
"I recommend we angle our approach to force them toward the Denmark's wreckage field," Lieutenant Yuvek said towards Tactical, already adjusting the ship's trajectory.
"I can put us between the raider and open space - cut off their escape vector. They'll have two choices: fly into debris or try to get past us." His fingers moved across the helm controls, plotting intercept angles.
"I can position us at eight thousand kilometers - close enough that our mass blocks their retreat, far enough that your detonation won't risk our shields." He glanced back toward tactical. "Once you detonate, they'll be dead in the water. But if they try to open a gateway before that..."
"Setting two photon torpedoes at 50 percent yield." Connor replied as he calibrated the next two shots, once they were, he fired. "Firing shots one on each side of the herald ship. Once they were close enough, he detonated one, and the second one a few seconds later. Scanning the ship, "Ships are damaged, what appears to be their weapons array are offline, as well as their shields."
"We neutered them!" Chistato proclaimed excitedly.
"Lets make this quick." Taiga said. "Move in closer, lock a tractor beam onto that ship " she ordered.
The blue tractor beam quickly secured the raider, holding it fast and secure.
Once the raider had been caught in the Tokyo's tractor beam, Taiga looked over at Nezuko. "I want you to lock onto any Herald lifesigns that remain on that raider. Beam them out into space."
Nezuko nodded, ignoring what a month earlier might have seemed a callous order but now was simply a requirement of the war they were fighting. The Captain is a more ferocious predator than I thought.
“Transporting now,” her console said, and on the viewscreen they could see numerous small figures shimmer into existence near the ship, only to expire.
"Any lifesigns aboard the Denmark?" Taiga asked. She hoped that there were survivors, afterall it was a huge hospital ship.
Nezuko nodded, using her fingers to communicate. {Nine-Four-Seven.} It was less than half they started with but it was more than there could have been.
"At least its not a total loss," Taiga muttered to herself.
Grace had been having a very bad day, or very good depending on what view you had of it. She'd been part of a half-squadron sent to run escort for the Denmark by her mothership, only to get a garbled message from USS Foch warning them to stay with the hospital ship and not to return, only to get cut off moments later. It was only a few minutes later that the Heralds had sent a quartet of raiders in-system to ambush the mostly helpless starship. Half of the six fighters had been blown to pieces in the span of a heartbeat, the fourth only winged before the second volley tore him apart too. Grace and her wingmate had evaded fire long enough to coordinate fire that damaged one of the ships before her wingman had been hit and impacted the damaged Herald taking it with him. By then, Denmark had already been mortally hit and Grace had taken wing to avoid the Heralds by interposing floating wreckage at every opportunity. Then this other ship had warped in and spit out some fighters of her own.
She looped one floating piece of Denmark and squeezed off a quick pair of shots that impacted one of the two remaining Herald ships before flicking off-course again, leaving the return shots from the Herald in her wake, "Foch 3-12, Ah could use some help." She sent out the call with her ID as she flipped on a wing to evade even more.
The help she called for arrived. It was a magnificent sight as sixty Valkyrie Starfighters zoomed over Grace's cockpit. They flew in formation, shaped like a V and running directly at the Herald raider. Phaser cannons fire erupted and burst from their wings as they approached. The orange pulses bounced off the shields at first, however they continued their relentless assault. The Herald shields collapsed. Phaser cannon fire were now backed up by torpedoes.
It didn't take long, sixty starfighters literally tore the raider apart right in front of Grace's eyes.
The voice of a young woman suddenly came from Grace's speakers in her cockpit. "This is Snowflake of the Starship Tokyo. Whats your status pilot?"
“Snowflake, Foch 3-12,” Grace responded as she rocked her own Valkyrie to get a visual on the raider that had formerly been shooting at her, “Ah am Winchester on torps and Foch is off the grid. Do you have a spare piece of deck Ah could use?”
One of the Valkyries pulled alongside on Starboard. The pilot looked through over at the other pilot, then spoke. "We've eliminated the target," Snowflake said. "Stick to my wing and we'll escort you back to Tokyo." She gave the other pilot a brief smile before starting to bank away.
“Foch, 3-12.” Grace confirmed, slotting herself into position on the port side and echeloned back and mirroring the other fighter’s maneuvers. Well, one good thing happened at least.
[Tokyo Bridge]
The third raider drifted on the viewscreen and the starfighters were starting to return in formation. The battle was over, but their work here was not.
Taiga turned to Thomas. "Commander. Take a search and rescue team over to the Denmark. Secure the ship and its crew and patients."
"Commander Nishikigi. Assemble a second team. Get over to that Herald raider and secure that ship too. Find what intel you can from their computers and technology. Anything that you deem useful, take it." Taiga added.
"Aye, Captain," Chisato nodded as she got up to follow Thomas into the turbolift.
Posting by:
Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer
Commander Thomas Johnson
Executive Officer
Commander Chisato Nishikigi
Chief Intelligence Officer
Lieutenant Commander Talia Johnson
Chief Counsellor
Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek
Chief Helmsman
Lieutenant Nezuko
Chief Operations Officer
Lieutenant Nyxala Valentine
Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake'
Commander Air Group
Lieutenant JG Vyse Ingelbard
Fighter Pilot
Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini'
Fighter Pilot
Ensign Grace MacKenzie
Fighter Pilot
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