Anne Phoenix
Mar 31st, 2013, 07:45:54 PM
Images floated past, fleeting images of battle; explosions and destructions visible and then fading away. People yelling at her, a coldness gripping at the edge of her soul. Another explosion and then nothing.
This image replays itself over and over again in her mind. Then it happened; during one replay the image faded away into nothingness. That was when she awoke: Anne regained consciousness. The first thing her eyes see after adjusting to the brightness are nurses and a doctor standing over her, working diligently on her, one of them trying to ask her questions.
She opens her mouth to try and respond once she can finally hear the questions but her throat is dry. A croaking sound emerges and one of the nurses goes away for a second, returning with a glass of water and a feeding tube to help it go down gently and without too much at one time. Once her throat is properly hydrated she tries again.
"Where am I?" is Anne's first question instead of an answer.
"Medical Frigate Comfort, ma'am. Do you remember who you are?" asked the nurse.
"Yes, I'm Anne Phoenix, commanding or was commanding Admiral of Task Force 45," replied Anne as memories of the battle replayed in her mind.
"Was commanding Admiral?" questioned the Nurse.
"I'm not even sure any elements of TF45 survived the battle. I don't know how I even came to be here. Last I remember the Liberty's Fire was being shot up around me and what was left of the fleet was making a suicidal run past the Aggressor to get at the Interdictor Destroyer," recalled Anne, unsure and afraid.
"Hmm, well TF45 did survive, as the Comfort is temporarily assigned to the force. But I'll let the captain here speak to you about the battle," said the nurse, stepping aside as did the doctor who had finished checking on her vitals and charts.
Replacing them was the image of a man that Anne recognized, although it took her a moment to connect a name, rank, and position to the image; Line Captain Dugear, commander of the Dreadnought Derfflinger.
"Dugear...if you're here then that means that the Derfflinger must've survived the battle," speculated Anne, her eyes showing relief at seeing the man alive and well, although very solemn at the moment.
"Indeed she did, along with a few other vessels. Anne, I don't know how you got out of the ship before she blew, but Liberty's Fire is gone along with most of her crew. We found you after the battle floating alone in the command level pod that was attached to the bridge. She took a brace of missiles from the Aggressor and blew up all at once. We'd feared the worst when we witnessed and all thought it would be our turn next and it some respects, it was," said Dugear.
"Who else survived?" Anne wanted to know.
"Leviathan with Line Captain Harlor, Admiral Ackbar, Mon Mothma, Courage, and Glory," rattled off Dugear.
"More than I expected to survive. Tell me, how did the Vindertan die?" asked Anne with surprise at the news.
"Very well. Line Captain Tyreal is the only reason any of us are still alive today. He took his Dreadnought on a suicidal ramming run against the starboard flank of the Aggressor after the Star Dreadnought blasted away most of his weaponry. She slammed into the starboard shields just as her reactor cores went critical, going up along with her armaments. No one knows if Tyreal initiated the Core Overload himself or if it was just because of battle damage, but he blasted the unsithly crap out of the Aggressor. She almost collided with us as she was pushed far to port from the force of the explosion," recounted Dugear.
"Was the Aggressor destroyed?" Anne asked with hope.
"Nay, she limped into Kuat under tow several days ago, two weeks after the battle ended. Intercepted communications indicate the Imperials are undecided as to whether or not she should be repaired or declared a total constructive loss and salvaged," said Dugear with regret.
"Wait...several days ago and two weeks after the battle....how long have I been out of it?" asked Anne with sudden apprehension.
"You've been in a comatose state for the past three and a half weeks. The doctors have indicated possible head trauma with the extent unknown but all things considered you're lucky to be alive, much less awake and talking," said Dugear.
"Almost a standard month...who's been running the Task Force while I've been gone?" asked Anne.
"Well I and Harlor have been dividing up the Task Force administration. Commodore Tarver of the Mon Casima has been handling Tempest Base operations while Chief Engineer Numpchucks has been taking care of T.E.W. work," ran down Dugear.
"So what's next?" asked Anne.
"Well first you get better. The doctors have some tests they want to run and all that but I think after talking to you that you'll pass with flying colors. Then after it it'll be off to an appointment with a board of inquiry for the Fourth Fleet regarding the naval engagement. If the board is satisfied with your statements and recounting of the battle, you'll remain in command of Task Force Forty Five along with Tempest Base operations. Then you get to come home and we go on kicking Imperial butt from there," summarized Dugear.
"What makes you think the council will allow me to remain in command? How many men did we lose anyways?" asked Anne.
"Between the Strike Cruisers, the Frigate, the two Corvettes, the single Gunship, Liberty's Fire, and Vindertan plus the starfighters we lost and couldn't recover the EV pilots in time; current estimates are fourteen thousand two hundred killed and another five hundred wounded. By our estimates the Imperials lost roughly one hundred thousand killed and perhaps twice as many wounded," recounted Dugear with a grimace.
"But still...what I lead us into...," Anne said with a whisper.
"Admiral; who the heck would've seen that coming? We have no intelligence, no forewarning that the Imperials had a counterattack on the way. They dropped in on us out of nowhere with both us and them being taken by surprise. The fact that any of us came out of it alive is a testament to the training and leadership taught to us by you. If it wasn't for you, none of us would've come out of that alive. We need your leadership Admiral, now more than ever," said Dugear with a fair amount of emotion entering his voice.
"Well I need to be going. You'll need to start eating to regain your strength. I'll expect to see you again at the rehab center for another checkup," said Dugear as he turned to leave. He stopped when Anne reached out with her left hand and grabbed his right wrist.
"Dugear I just wanted to say...thanks. I'll see you then, Line Captain," thanked Anne.
"See you then Admiral," Dugear nodded with a smile as he exited the ward.
This image replays itself over and over again in her mind. Then it happened; during one replay the image faded away into nothingness. That was when she awoke: Anne regained consciousness. The first thing her eyes see after adjusting to the brightness are nurses and a doctor standing over her, working diligently on her, one of them trying to ask her questions.
She opens her mouth to try and respond once she can finally hear the questions but her throat is dry. A croaking sound emerges and one of the nurses goes away for a second, returning with a glass of water and a feeding tube to help it go down gently and without too much at one time. Once her throat is properly hydrated she tries again.
"Where am I?" is Anne's first question instead of an answer.
"Medical Frigate Comfort, ma'am. Do you remember who you are?" asked the nurse.
"Yes, I'm Anne Phoenix, commanding or was commanding Admiral of Task Force 45," replied Anne as memories of the battle replayed in her mind.
"Was commanding Admiral?" questioned the Nurse.
"I'm not even sure any elements of TF45 survived the battle. I don't know how I even came to be here. Last I remember the Liberty's Fire was being shot up around me and what was left of the fleet was making a suicidal run past the Aggressor to get at the Interdictor Destroyer," recalled Anne, unsure and afraid.
"Hmm, well TF45 did survive, as the Comfort is temporarily assigned to the force. But I'll let the captain here speak to you about the battle," said the nurse, stepping aside as did the doctor who had finished checking on her vitals and charts.
Replacing them was the image of a man that Anne recognized, although it took her a moment to connect a name, rank, and position to the image; Line Captain Dugear, commander of the Dreadnought Derfflinger.
"Dugear...if you're here then that means that the Derfflinger must've survived the battle," speculated Anne, her eyes showing relief at seeing the man alive and well, although very solemn at the moment.
"Indeed she did, along with a few other vessels. Anne, I don't know how you got out of the ship before she blew, but Liberty's Fire is gone along with most of her crew. We found you after the battle floating alone in the command level pod that was attached to the bridge. She took a brace of missiles from the Aggressor and blew up all at once. We'd feared the worst when we witnessed and all thought it would be our turn next and it some respects, it was," said Dugear.
"Who else survived?" Anne wanted to know.
"Leviathan with Line Captain Harlor, Admiral Ackbar, Mon Mothma, Courage, and Glory," rattled off Dugear.
"More than I expected to survive. Tell me, how did the Vindertan die?" asked Anne with surprise at the news.
"Very well. Line Captain Tyreal is the only reason any of us are still alive today. He took his Dreadnought on a suicidal ramming run against the starboard flank of the Aggressor after the Star Dreadnought blasted away most of his weaponry. She slammed into the starboard shields just as her reactor cores went critical, going up along with her armaments. No one knows if Tyreal initiated the Core Overload himself or if it was just because of battle damage, but he blasted the unsithly crap out of the Aggressor. She almost collided with us as she was pushed far to port from the force of the explosion," recounted Dugear.
"Was the Aggressor destroyed?" Anne asked with hope.
"Nay, she limped into Kuat under tow several days ago, two weeks after the battle ended. Intercepted communications indicate the Imperials are undecided as to whether or not she should be repaired or declared a total constructive loss and salvaged," said Dugear with regret.
"Wait...several days ago and two weeks after the battle....how long have I been out of it?" asked Anne with sudden apprehension.
"You've been in a comatose state for the past three and a half weeks. The doctors have indicated possible head trauma with the extent unknown but all things considered you're lucky to be alive, much less awake and talking," said Dugear.
"Almost a standard month...who's been running the Task Force while I've been gone?" asked Anne.
"Well I and Harlor have been dividing up the Task Force administration. Commodore Tarver of the Mon Casima has been handling Tempest Base operations while Chief Engineer Numpchucks has been taking care of T.E.W. work," ran down Dugear.
"So what's next?" asked Anne.
"Well first you get better. The doctors have some tests they want to run and all that but I think after talking to you that you'll pass with flying colors. Then after it it'll be off to an appointment with a board of inquiry for the Fourth Fleet regarding the naval engagement. If the board is satisfied with your statements and recounting of the battle, you'll remain in command of Task Force Forty Five along with Tempest Base operations. Then you get to come home and we go on kicking Imperial butt from there," summarized Dugear.
"What makes you think the council will allow me to remain in command? How many men did we lose anyways?" asked Anne.
"Between the Strike Cruisers, the Frigate, the two Corvettes, the single Gunship, Liberty's Fire, and Vindertan plus the starfighters we lost and couldn't recover the EV pilots in time; current estimates are fourteen thousand two hundred killed and another five hundred wounded. By our estimates the Imperials lost roughly one hundred thousand killed and perhaps twice as many wounded," recounted Dugear with a grimace.
"But still...what I lead us into...," Anne said with a whisper.
"Admiral; who the heck would've seen that coming? We have no intelligence, no forewarning that the Imperials had a counterattack on the way. They dropped in on us out of nowhere with both us and them being taken by surprise. The fact that any of us came out of it alive is a testament to the training and leadership taught to us by you. If it wasn't for you, none of us would've come out of that alive. We need your leadership Admiral, now more than ever," said Dugear with a fair amount of emotion entering his voice.
"Well I need to be going. You'll need to start eating to regain your strength. I'll expect to see you again at the rehab center for another checkup," said Dugear as he turned to leave. He stopped when Anne reached out with her left hand and grabbed his right wrist.
"Dugear I just wanted to say...thanks. I'll see you then, Line Captain," thanked Anne.
"See you then Admiral," Dugear nodded with a smile as he exited the ward.