He risked looking around at the remaining four crewmembers, hoping they wouldn't look back and see the look of concern on his face. Thankfully, they were all dutifully staring either straight ahead, or staring at their console. They were, he figured, probably trying to busy themselves to keep from feeling as nervous as he was. Looking at the arms of the captain's chair he was sitting in, he almost chucked at the irony. All his life he wanted to be a starship captain... ever since his father sat him in his seat when he was young. Now, with the current captain confined to his quarters and the first officer putting himself in harms way with an invisible intruder, he may very well find himself in command... and it terrified him. Perhaps he wasn't quite as ready to work 'without a net' as he had originally thought. Unfortunately, Kenyon didn't dare voice these thoughts. "I should have been more forceful," he thought. "Kirk had no business leaving. I may officially be the second officer on this ship, but right now I'm the first officer. I shouldn't have let him go." He toyed with the idea of contacting Kirk and making him come back. Deep down, Kenyon had to admit to himself he just wasn't ready for a situation like this and he wasn't ready to leave his wife and daughter.
Ensign Bristol's eyes were fixed on the flying stars as they streamed past the viewscreen. Apparently, against Starfleet's wishes, they were about to fly into enemy territory with guns blazing in an attempt to rescue hostages before they were killed, then destroy almost three dozen enemy starships. If they're successful, they will eliminate the Dominion threat from the alpha quadrant once and for all, liberate the Cardassian homeworld once again, and free several prominant Federation diplomats. Tyler found it difficult to sit still because of his excitement. For all the books he ever read, shows he had watched or stories he had heard... nothing even came close to what he was about to do. "How can a ship that big maneuver like that?" He imagined the enemy captains saying. The thought made him smile broader. "And to think," he thought, "my parents wanted me to work at Dad's bar." It was a pity they couldn't see this... see what he was being a part of. "They'll see," he thought. "One day... they'll see." The idea of the hostages dying or of his ship being blown apart from superior firepower never occurred to him.
Liutenant Commander T'Nia continued studying her tactical panel. Although she was completely familiar with its layout, continued practice could only be beneficial, she thought. Besides, it helped her from dwelling on the profound absence of her commanding officer and friend. His decision to leave was illogical... but understandable, she concluded. He was, after all, a man of deep convictions, even if they were occasionally misguided. It was a pity he hadn't chosen to discuss his course of action with her... not that it would have changed anything, she admitted to herself. Hopefully, the remaining intruder will be dealt with soon, so Stephen can return to the bridge. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she once again looked at the console. Most likely, they would be making use of the Warlord's auto-fire system. T'Nia decided to refresh her knowledge of the system. After all, the onset of a battle would be an inopportune time to press the wrong controls. Part of Warlord's advanced technology was the ships ability to automatically load its torpedoes and recharge its phasers. The additional benefit of increased firing speed was the ability to link the tactical computer with the firing controls, meaning she could select, or 'paint' targets on her tactical display, then engage the auto-firing system. The ship would then begin firing at the 'painted' targets until they were neutralized. Against so many enemy vessels, this would prove invaluable. First things first, however. She would need to manually arm enough ordinance to remove the shields protecting the government building without causing enough structural damage to force the building to collapse. Although she had performed the necessary calculations four times, a fifth would only benefit them.
Lieutenant Davies strained her ears, trying to listen for any communications at all. Anything at all might give them some kind of advantage in the upcoming fight. Although she wasn't nearly as terrified as she was during their first fight, she still found her hands shaking. The silence across the various communications frequencies was eerie. There was nothing... not even static... as though the communications channels had been intentionally cut off. Perhaps the silence meant the Dominion was already prepared for them. Maybe they were headed into a trap. Maybe they should change course. Maybe, if she told Commander Richards again of the strange silence, he'd change his mind and call off the attack. Of course, she'd already told him twice, in reply to his asking twice, and he hadn't changed course. "As long as Commander Kirk is in charge, we do this his way." Richards had said. Now, the only voices she heard were the five minute updates the marines were giving their superiors. Kenyon had told her to turn off the reports from the overhead speakers several minutes ago. Now, the fact they weren't finding anything after catching the first one, was just as nerve-wracking as the cardassian silence. Just as she had found peace being aboard the Warlord, the upcoming conflict made her start thinking of her previous life on Earth. Going back had been a tempting thought... once. That was before she had gotten to know the person next to her. Poor judgement and even more poorly chosen words had damaged her friendship with Tony Moreau for awhile. Now, they were friends again and had agreed to take things slowly and just enjoy their friendship.
Since then, they ate meals with each other frequently. She had introduced him to romantic comedies and he introduced her to American football. Although she'd never admit it, she just didn't quite get American football. It was entirely too violent for her and had entirely too many rules. Still she enjoyed the games not for the sport, but to watch her friend get completely wrapped up in it. Elaine was beginning to regret her agreement to 'take it slow.' He was barely two inches taller than her. He had an obvious Chicago accent. He was bull-headed and overconfident. His face had a few scars from teenage acne he waited entirely too long to cure. Yet, she was attracted to him... considerably. As frequently as she had been burned for going too far with men in the past, she found herself wanting to try it one more time... providing they lived to see tomorrow. That thought made her shudder. She looked back at her communications console and struggled to eavesdrop on anything that might give them an advantage.
Planting himself squarely in front of his computer screen, Lieutenant Moreau had successfully put his body between his screen and anyone looking his direction. This afforded him just a little privacy to enjoy one of his favorite pasttimes... poker. One a small window at the bottom of his panel, he and three virtual players were enjoying a game of five card stud. "I'm supposed to be off-shift," he offered himself as an excuse, "I put in my time already today. Besides, we may get our butts blown out the quadrant in a couple of hours, so what does it matter?" The thought of their demise gave Tony pause. Not seeing his brothers again... not seeing his Mom again... na, not with Steve in charge. He had doubted Stephen's capabilities for the last time. If Steve said they could make then, he was going to believe him... unless, of course, Steve didn't make back from the bug hunt down below. "Why did he leave?" he thought. Then, as quickly as he asked himself, he knew the answer. "Steve felt guilty." He nodded, then decided to raise the pot by ten credits. Steve will make it back. He had to. Steve had to get back and lead them to victory... Tony had a date with Elaine Friday night. They're going to the holodeck so he could show her the view of Chicago from the top of the Sears Tower.
The pop of Commander Richard's comm badge gave everyone on the bridge a start. "Kirk to Richards."
As if he had been holding his breath the entire time, Kenyon let out a long breath. He tapped his badge. "Go ahead, Commander."
"We got intruder two. I'm heading up to the bridge. Kirk out."
With the noteable exception of T'Nia, the bridge crew cheered and let out a sigh of relief.