Blacken Out the Sky: The Prologue
Posted on Fri Oct 31st, 2025 @ 5:03am by Captain Maho Takahashi & Captain Ryosuke Takahashi 'Ry' & Commander Keisuke Takahashi 'K.T.' & Lieutenant Commander Chrirhc Chihc & Captain Elizabeth F. "Liz" Beurling & Kyoko Takahashi & Commander Ichika Misono & Lieutenant Ami Rori & Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair & Commander Chiyomi Anzai & Lieutenant Commander Nezuko & Lieutenant Minerva Zephyrin & Lieutenant Alisha Reno & Lieutenant JG Mia ‘Banshee’ Amaro
1,600 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
The Next Myogi
Location: 811 Badlands
Timeline: January 26, 2400
Military log, supplemental:
Lieutenant Zephyrin has been prepping our guests from the other Myogi to fly. Meanwhile, our long range sensors have picked up an Iconian attack force on an intercept course.
End of log.
Ryosuke had finished compiling some data in the ready room. Since he and his crew were already in violation of the Temporal Prime Directive, and were unlikely to live to see their court martial, what harm could there be in sending the other Myogi back to the past with a fighting chance against the Iconians?
With the upload complete, Ryosuke exited the ready room to make his way down to the shuttlebay. He had kept track of the time, and it was getting close to the time that Lieutenant Zephyrin had estimated she'd have their guests off the ship by:
"Hold up, Captain," the XO suddenly interrupted.
"What is it, Commander?" Ryosuke asked in a tone of slight annoyance. "I'm on a tight timetable here:"
"If we're going through with this, then I want to be present to see Captain Takahashi off," the XO stated, almost if she were issuing him a demand rather than making a request. "This has been weighing on my mind for quite some time now, and seeing as this could be our last chance to make things right... I figure she deserves to know what's at stake."
"Then, so be it." Ryosuke pointed towards the turbolift without hesitation, indicating to his XO that if she wanted to come with him, now was the time.
"Evans, you have the bridge:" Ryosuke called out to the tactical officer as the two command officer made their way to the turbolift.
When Ryosuke and the XO arrived, Ryosuke was relieved to see the shuttle from the previous Myogi (tuned up to Myogi-A specifications, of course) still present in the shuttlebay, with its passengers now boarding. Though, Maho herself stood off to the side of the ramp, consoling the overstimulated baby in her arms.
"Keisuke!" Ryosuke called out to his brother as he approached the shuttle.
Keisuke turned when he heard his brother's voice call his name.
"What is it, bro?" Keisuke asked as Ryosuke drew up to the group boarding the shuttle.
"I seem to recall you saying before your ship disappeared that you were planning on making a cast of your wife's belly to form the basis of an art piece to track Kyoko's growth." Ryosuke held out his hand and opened it, revealing the storage device onto which he had compiled as comprehensive a database as he could within five minutes. "Which is why I had Lieutenant Zephyrin take a three dimensional scan of Maho's torso prior to Kyoko's birth. The model has been formatted to be backwards compatible with older replicator technology, so you should be able to make something nice back on your ship."
"Wow, thanks, bro:" Keisuke said as he accepted the storage device without further question. "I knew you'd have my back."
Ryosuke gave a simple nod before turning to Maho and Kyoko.
"And Maho:" He addressed his counterpart. "Friendly word of advice: Enjoy every moment you can on the old ship, because the day might come where you'll have to let go."
Maho gazed into Ryosuke's eyes, and she could tell there was a future wisdom in them that told her that what happened today might be merely prolonging the inevitable.
"I understand." Maho nodded. "Thank you for your hospitality, Captain."
"The honor was mine." Ryosuke bowed, as per Japanese custom. "But before we let you go, there was someone else who wanted to speak to you: Commander?"
He stepped aside and gestured to a familiar twin-tailed Commander.
"Commander Anzai, I..." Maho began to turn red for having not spoken to her former 3XO sooner.
Anzai held up her hand in dismissal. "No; I'm the one that should be apologizing, Captain. There's something we haven't told you up until this point; we were to going to give you at least a few days to recover, but now that it's come to this, we figure it's only appropriate that you know."
Maho, Keisuke, and Ichika glanced at one another uncertainly; based on everything they'd heard so far, they seemed to anticipate that this wouldn't be good, but they could've hardly anticipated what Anzai was about to tell them:
"Earth, as you know it... is gone."
There was a moment of deathly silence. Even Kyoko seemed to go quiet.
"What are you saying?" Keisuke demanded. "In fact, scratch that, how the hell did that happen??"
"Protomatter, is how it happened." Ryosuke admitted sadly. "That is how the Iconians have been able to destroy all major seats of power in the galaxy: Qo'noS, Inuto, Cardassia, Romulus and Remus. All done the same way."
"We were practically fighting a losing battle from the start," Anzai lamented. "We exhausted most of our resources in the opening months of the conflict; by the time June rolled around, we were stretched far too thin on far too many fronts. All the while we were struggling to maintain a foothold on our gradually-diminishing territories, the Iconians were busy developing and perfecting a weapon of mass destruction in the Khourani System."
"How do you know about all this?" Ichika asked.
"We only found out about it last year," Anzai replied. "During a brief period when the Khourani System was back under our control, we discovered the wreckage of what we believe to have been some kind of arsenal that looked to have been purpose-built for the mass construction of protomatter weaponry. Of course, we didn't get much time to investigate before the Iconians made a push back into the system a few days later."
"That was the same day the Iconians breached our defensive stronghold at Braxus." Ryosuke added. "Given the trend we've established, it shouldn't come off as a shock when I say that the same fate befell the former Confederate capital."
"Bridge to Captain Takahashi:" Came the voice of Evans over Ryosuke's combadge.
"Go ahead, bridge." Ryosuke gave his combadge a tap.
"The Iconian fleet is expected to arrive within three minutes." Evans reported. "Have our guests been evacuated to their ship yet?"
"They'll be lifting off momentarily. Takahashi out." Ryosuke tapped his combadge to close the channel.
"You'd best be getting underway now." He said to the group at the shuttle. "Commander Anzai and I will be needed on the bridge."
"Good luck, Maho," Anzai nodded, referring to Maho by her first name for the first time that she could remember. "We're counting on you to save the future."
As the two of them turned and began to make their way to the exit of the shuttlebay, Maho turned and boarded the shuttle.
"Sinclair, let's be wheels up as soon as possible." She ordered as she stepped aboard.
Jane had been standing by the loading ramp, having done everything there was to do to keep the shuttle ready for an immediate takeoff. "Yes, ma'am!" she said. As Maho and her newborn passed her, she leaned in to smile and wave at the baby. "Welcome, little one," she whispered before taking her seat in the cockpit.
Two fighters flashed past the Myogi-A's shuttlebay in a show of solidarity. "Close up on me Jem," Mia stated over the comm, we're going to move to escort position once the shuttle launches, but if the Iconians show up before, we're the diversion while the Skipper gets back on board."
"Roger that, Banshee," Alisha responded, bringing her craft in closer to the other fighter's wing. This was her first actual deployment in a potential combat situation, but the practice had come in handy. "Shuttle Usagi, launch when ready, we'll escort you in." Her melodic voice spoke to Jane.
"I'm in the best of hands, ladies," Jane called back over comms. The ramp was now closed, and everyone was strapped in and safe, especially their most precious cargo. She switched the channel hail the Myogi-A's Ops Station. "Myogi-A this is Usagi, requesting departure clearance."
An artificial voice, that of the Ops Chief's speakervoice, came back over comms. "Approved. Safe journey home."
"Lifting off now." The shuttle lifted off the landing bay deck and pushed itself forward out of the shuttlebay. Once clear, she guided it back toward their own Myogi, taking a second to look out her side viewports to see Alisha and Mia flanking them. "We'll be home in just a moment, Captain."
"Let's just hope we have enough time to get there..." Maho muttered.
Ryosuke and Anzai arrived back on the bridge in time to see the small formation of auxiliary craft pass by on the viewscreen.
"Status of the Iconian fleet?" Were the first words out of Ryosuke's mouth when he stepped on the bridge.
"One minute and fifty seconds until intercept, sir." Evans reported.
"Ops, open a shipwide comms channel:" Ryosuke ordered.
A few taps caused the Ops console to beep, indicating an open channel. Nezuko nodded to the Captain.
With the shipwide comms channel open, Ryosuke proceeded to address his crew:
"Attention all hands: As you know, we could outrun the Iconian vessels, but we must protect the other Myogi until she enters the temporal rift. And we must succeed! Let's make sure that history never forgets the name... Myogi. Takahashi out."
Nezuko closed the channel and gave Ryosuke a thumbs-up.
To be continued...
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