Memorium

Posted on Fri Feb 12th, 2021 @ 2:08am by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: The past
Timeline: 2394
3088 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The USS Elysium has returned to the Sol System.... without their beloved Admiral The year is now 2394, and the Elysium was lost. Starfleet has deployed a research team to investigate the disappearance of Admiral Sharr and his crew. However, their efforts are in vain, and after six months only passive searches are taking place as life continues. The Elysium had been stranded in the Andromeda Galaxy after suffering a crippling attack that forced the ship through space/time leaving her a floating wreck. Six months have passed, and the crew have patched up the ship as best as they can.
As life started to return to normal, the "accidental" death of the Executive Officer and rumours of mutiny have caused the crew to be on edge yet again. Tensions grow aboard the former flagship as a thorough investigations sweep through the crew and their activities in an attempt to identify the ringleaders of the mutiny.

Admiral Sharr had activated the Artificial Intelligence program he and a colleague had been working on for several years, the activation of Alice has unnerved a lot of the crew, unsure on how to act around this new life form. Alice is unique within the concept of AI's, she can think and act for herself and is entirely capable of taking control of her code. Her primary objective is the safety of her home, the Elysium, and that of the one she see's as her maker, Sharr.

Then, Sharr made a bargain to get his crew home. He made a deal that would forever seal his fate within the Andromeda Galaxy. He got the ship repaired; his crew left alive, his nemesis contained and the loss of his freedom.
Out of their original 3260 crew, they had lost 25% of the crew, which had been 815 lives, and left 2445 crew, with the new three additions that had jumped 2448. Bruised and battered, emotionally drained, they survived.
But now, the Elysium returns home, without the Admiral. And the crew, led by Commander Phoenix Lalor, face an uncertain future ahead.

=/\=


The induced stasis had finally ended and everyone had come out of their collective dream, the events had happened over the past few hours but had felt like a lifetime and everyone had just started to get to grips with the idea. However, the ship was perfect, exactly as it was the day she was finished several years ago. Yet something didn't feel right in the atmosphere, something was off and the crew couldn't quite place it.

The gateway had opened and they only had a few short moments to have the ship move through and they would be home, they could see it through the view screen. Earth, the dark side of the planet was facing them and it was only a few kilometres away.

The Admiral stood and addressed the crew, "Attention everyone," he started, clearing his throat, "the Elysium has been fully repaired and we are ready to depart. The events of the past few hours have been strange yet this is nothing that I know you cannot handle. In a few moments you will all be back in the Sol System, I have left orders for you all to have some long deserved R'n'R. Gather your personal items and be ready to transport to Starfleet Command for debriefing."He ended the shipwide comm then turned to his Executive Officer, "Commander, would you do me a favour?"

"Yes sir?" Phoenix asked as she stood up from her chair.

Handing over a PADD he smiled, ever so softly, "Would you ensure that this PADD reaches the named recipient?"

Phoenix took the PADD with shock and understanding crossing her face. "Sir." She said softly, lowering her voice. "Is this where you tell me the price they asked for?"

"The price was that we stay. Alice, Xi'ia and I. We no longer have a place in the Milky Way, it is here with our new 'guards' so you must head home without me. Do great things, Lalor, ensure you are never forgotten."

As he turned a gateway opened beside him, he sighed as who different hands reached through and ushered him their way, quickly binding his hands behind his back before the gateway closed leaving an electric taste behind in the air.
Phoenix bit back a growl at the price. The Admiral was not coming back. She turned to the crew on the bridge. "Take us through the gate." She ordered. She knew arguing would not work.

They had to get home.

=/\=

The Elysium’s sudden arrival caused a flurry of activity and from what Phoenix could see on the viewer, panic. After all when you were missing for over 7 months, your sudden reappearance was sure to cause such.

Commander Phoenix Lalor, acting Captain of the USS Elysium sat in the centre chair, that not moments ago, had belonged to a man whose shadow would hang over whoever took over the chair of the USS Elysium.

She sat, back straight, hands on the armrests, staring straight at the large view screen. "All senior Staff to the bridge"

Taran stepped out of the sonic shower just in time to hear the comms. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders. He quickly put on his uniform and stuffed his feet into his boots. Making sure everything was straight he headed out of his quarters and headed towards the turbolift. He stepped off the turbolift onto the bridge and looked around. Looking at the main screen he saw what he thought was the concern. He tapped his comm badge. =/\= "All fighters this is Captain Risyga. I want all pilots in their fighters and on standby to launch. Code yellow, I repeat code yellow."=/\=

Walking down the ramp he looked over at Commander Lalor. "I know it's probably an unneeded precaution but I prefer not to take chances where I can avoid them."

Phoenix nodded. She understood.

"Keep us at 1/2 impulse Commander Qwyyn." She added to the Chief of Flight Control.

Liselle's eyes were as hard as obsidian as her delicate fingers danced across her panel. The muscles in her jaw worked beneath the skin as she desperately struggled to maintain her composure over the loss of Sharr. She could see the striking man with his haunting, beautiful eyes vividly in her mind's eye. He was gone now. It was too much to possibly comprehend.

~Good bye, Admiral. ~

Qwyyn's voice wavered as she reported back to the Commander. "Aye, sir. One half. Steady as she goes."

From operations, her former assistant spoke. "Ma'am. We have three vessels on route to us, Scans showing they are the USS Carlyle, the USS Bentley and the USS Tokyo."

"Steady everyone. They are friends. On screen" She said softly.

"Being hailed. Its Admiral Carter from the Tokyo." their communications officer called out.

"Split screen" Phoenix replied.

A tall greying man appeared on the right side of the screen. The left showed the three vessels approaching. Two were Galaxy Class, but the lead was a Prometheus class. The Admiral's gaze narrowed at the young female with commander's pips sitting comfortably in Sharr's chair. "Commander?"

"Admiral Carter. I am Commander Lalor, Acting Commanding Officer of the USS Elysium. It is my sad duty Sir to inform you of the passing of our Executive Officer Commander Faye Magnolia and of the fact that Admiral Myrkul Sharr has remained behind in the Andromeda galaxy, from whence we have just arrived. I have his orders here, and that of our original 3260 crew, we return with 2448. Myself and the remainder of our senior staff stand by for debriefing as do the entirety of the Elysium's remaining compliment."

The man studied the woman who spoke confidently and gave him the basic run down quickly and easily. "Commander Lalor. You and your crew are to remain onboard until we have completed the initial investigations. Have your ship brought into docking bay 376, connect the ship to Starfleet Computers and stand by for further orders." He paused. "And Commander?"

"Yes Sir?"

"Welcome home." He cut the connection.

Phoenix turned to the bridge crew and nodded at the helm. "Take us in Commander."

Liselle had to bite down on her lower lip. She wanted to be alone. She wanted permission to break down and cry. And so she could only manage a sad nod to indicate her acknowledgment of her orders as she punched in the commands to swing the Elysium around for docking procedures. Slowly, the vessel that had once so faithfully served Myrkul Sharr came to rest in its berth at bay 376, this time under the orders of its new commander, Phoenix Lalor. Once docking was complete, Liselle turned about in her seat to face the Commander. Qwyyn couldn't help but wipe away the tears that drew their way down her cheeks in stained mascara. She was flush with embarrassment as she spoke. "Docking complete, sir. Clamps engaged, moorings extended and locked."

Phoenix nodded and stepped up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you commander." she said softly. Then Phoenix turned to the crew. "Open Communications to all decks."

"Open"

"Attention Crew of the USS Elysium. We have returned to the Sol System. We are docked with Starbase 1. Unfortunately the Admiral has had to remain behind in the Andromeda Galaxy. You will all be debriefed by Starfleet within the next few days. I expect full cooperation from you all. Over the next few days, things will be hard. Some of us will be transferred to other postings, and it is my hope that we will have our new CO within the week and be able to return to active duty. Thank you for your service, your hardwork and diligence. Good luck to you all." She nodded at the communications officer who severed the connection.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen, you should all prepare for departure and debriefing." Then Phoenix gave her crew a smile and walked off the bridge in silence. She had little hope of returning.

=/\=

Phoenix was led by two security officers from the Starbase into a medium sized conference room. Even though she had never been debriefed before, she had, been made aware of the process. In the room, stood Fleet Admiral Paul Carter, several other more junior admirals and a couple of commodores thrown in for good measure.

Phoenix was glad that her upbringing had enabled her to keep her facial features relaxed and unsurprised at the number of people waiting. 10 in all. They stood behind a long table, which was set at the far end of the room. Before it was a smaller table and a chair.

With a polite nod to the security officers, Phoenix walked up to the chair and table and stood beside them. "Commander Phoenix Penelope Lalor reporting as ordered Admiral."

Carter studied the slim Erisian female.

She wore her red collared uniform well, neatly pressed, pips neatly aligned on the collar, boots shining. Her hair was pulled back in a regulation ponytail and her eyes, that clear blue-silver gazed at them all passively. This was the woman Sharr had left in charge of his ship. In charge of his crew and had done so without reservation it seemed.

He was not fully sold on the idea.

When the Elysium had docked, Phoenix had, sent a yeoman with a PADD which held Sharr's last wishes and orders. They had all read it.
"Sit Commander."

Phoenix gracefully sat, back straight, hands on the table, fingers laced. One her right hand a gold signet ring, from the academy glinted.

"Commander, we have reviewed the logs of the Elysium crew and computer. We would however like your personal view on the issue." A commodore said from the left.

Phoenix let her eyes sweep the group and then said "Sir, the Elysium was assigned to escort 3 Raven Class vessels,1 Whofin class vessel, 3 Merchantman types, and 1 Norkova Class cargo ship, containing a total of 500 passengers to a new colony world. We left on time. And not 3 days into the trip, everything went to hell and back." She paused. "I do not know what exactly happened. I was in turbolift 1 with 3 cadets heading to the bridge when it happened. The explosions of all 8 vessels caused catastrophic issues on the Elysium. I came around to 1 dead cadet, broken neck and two alive both with minor injuries. I got them out of the lift and sent them to the nearest medical station. I then climbed to the bridge to see if I could find the Admiral and executive officer. It was, to put it mildly sir, chaotic. We managed to make a stable orbit around an L Class planet. We had no communications and no idea where we were. But the planet was livable so we evacuated all personnel down to the planet."

She would have continued but one of the Admirals broke in. "Who made that call?"

"Admiral Sharr did sir."

"Did you argue with him about the evacuation?"

"No Sir. It was a logical course of action. The planet had breathable air, the Elysium was losing air. It made sense."

Carter nodded and said "Continue."

"We evacuated and set up a camp on the planet side. We took stock, did a headcount, and got to work trying to fix the ship." She paused. "We lost a lot of people sir."

Carter nodded. He had seen the list of the dead she had sent over.

"After a 21 days, we made...sort of made.. contact with a race of androids on the planet surface. The Admiral made the initial contact, scaring us half to death when he vanished without trace."

"It was noted by Sharr that you reacted rather badly to his... disappearance." Another sneered at her.

"Yes Sir. Magnolia was playing least in sight, had no idea what she was up to. I was basically doing her job and mine and then Sharr wandered off. I did loose my temper at him. And threatened to hog tie him with duct tape to keep him in one place. Sir, we could not afford to lose him." Phoenix explained. "The admiral forgave me my words Sir."

Nods went around the table before her.

"We spent nearly 6 and a half months on that planet. The Androids avoided us for the most part. Any interaction they had, was with Sharr outside my hearing. Once the ship was habitable for the most part, we returned to the ship. It was there that apparently, Faye Magnolia made her move and attempted to kill Admiral Sharr."

"You say attempted?" Carter asked.

"I was not present at the event and all holo recordings are ... disrupted at the moment of the event. Most likely by ALICE."

Frowns flitted across faces. "The ALICE program was not sanctioned by the Fleet."

Phoenix gave a shrug. "Not surprised sir. We did pick up a new passenger shortly after our return to the ship, she has been integrated into our security team. A native of the Andromeda Galaxy who we have learned to trust in the short time we have known her. " She paused. "The investigation into Magnolia's demise was hampered by the destruction of our morgue. And we could not find any supporters of her so called mutiny within the ship. The admiral not 3 days ago, summoned me to his office. He had made a deal to get us home. There was a price. He would not tell me it at the time."

She paused and took a breath. "The price was him. Him, ALICE and a very dangerous person named Xi'ia." She paused. "If I may, show you the last moments on the bridge?"

They nodded and she stood, walked over to a console and hit some keys.

=/\= BRIDGE USS ELYSIUM - Moments before the return of the Elsyium =/\=

Handing over a PADD Sharr smiled, ever so softly, "Would you ensure that this PADD reaches the named recipient?"

Phoenix took the PADD with shock and understanding crossing her face. "Sir." She said softly, lowering her voice. "Is this where you tell me the price they asked for?"

"The price was that we stay. Alice, Xi'ia and I. We no longer have a place in the Milky Way, it is here with our new 'guards' so you must head home without me. Do great things, Lalor, ensure you are never forgotten."

As he turned a gateway opened beside him, he sighed as two different hands reached through and ushered him their way, quickly binding his hands behind his back before the gateway closed leaving an electric taste behind in the air.
Phoenix bit back a growl at the price. The Admiral was not coming back. She turned to the crew on the bridge. "Take us through the gate." She ordered. She knew arguing would not work.

=/\= End Of File =/\=

Phoenix returned to her seat, her face passive. "The admiral gave up his freedom for us Admirals. The crew of the Elysium would not be here today without him."

They exchanged looks and murmured comments. Then Carter turned to where Phoenix sat, calmly awaiting their response. "Do you have anything to add?"
"Yes Sir. The Colonist ships that exploded. They were not truly colonists were they Sir?"

"We investigated the matter after the disappearance Commander. We are unsure where they came from and who gave the clearance. That matter is still with Starfleet Intelligence."

Phoenix nodded. "When that report is complete, I would very much like a copy. I know a few people who might want to speak with those who did this to us, very firmly."

Carter had to smile at that. "I can understand that."

"Sir, what will happen to the crew now?"

"Once debrief is finished, we will assess the viability of the Elysium remaining active." He paused. "Were you aware of the contents of the PADD Sharr gave you?"

"No Sir." She replied. "Not my place to read it."

Carter tilted his head. "You are dismissed with our thanks Commander. You may return to the Elysium or take quarters here on the Starbase."

"I will return to the Elysium Sir. I need to help the Admiral's aide pack his things." Phoenix stood. "Thank you for your time sirs."

=/\=
OOC: The above post is to show where we came from. All players who are members of the USS Elysium as of this month, will receive the following award:


Also, on the 27th of Feb Captain Phoenix Lalor celebrates her 4th year in command of the USS Elysium.