Supplemental Mission Log - Stardate 75352.45

Posted on Thu Aug 27th, 2026 @ 7:34am by Captain Samuel Woolheater

Mission: Season 6: Episode 7: Crossroads of Destiny
Location: Immediate Care Unit - Deck 12 - USS Elysium
Timeline: Right after the beam to sickbay
1132 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Stardate 75352.45
USS Elysium

=/\= The sun is up. Sunrise is terminated. =/\=

Sam tapped the channel closed.

For a moment, Captain Samuel Woolheater stood exactly where the transporter had deposited him. Then he looked down at the rifle in his hands. The operation was over. He thumbed the weapon to safe, removed the power cell and cleared it. The movements came automatically, drilled into muscle memory over years of training and repetition. An armorer was already working near the room entrance, receiving weapons from Marines returning from the surface.

Sam stepped over and offered him the rifle, "Armorer...I'm clear."

The armorer accepted it, checked the weapon himself and nodded.

"Clear."

Sam handed over the power cell. The rifle joined the others. And that was that. The weapon stayed behind. Everything else came with him. Sam pulled off his helmet and tucked it beneath one arm. His short, dirty-blond hair was soaked with sweat and flattened against his head. He dragged a hand through it, leaving it standing haphazardly in several directions.

At six-foot-two, Woolheater was a big dude to begin with. Body armor made him bigger. Beneath it, his short-sleeved uniform shirt was soaked dark with sweat and clung to his shoulders and chest. Dust covered his face, neck and exposed arms. When he shifted the helmet beneath his arm, muscle tightened under tattooed skin before relaxing again.

There was blood on him.

Red and Green. None of it was his. There would be time for cleaning up later. Right now, Sam needed a count. Not the computer's count. His. By the time he reached Sickbay, the corridors outside had become an extension of the medical department. Rescued prisoners, Marines and Romulans were being triaged. Doctors, nurses and corpsmen moved between them. Antigrav gurneys came and went through the doors.

Sam tried to stay out of the way. At six-foot-two, still wearing body armor, he wasn't particularly good at it.

"Team A?" he asked a Nurse.

"Accounted for, sir."

"Bravo?"

"All recovered."

"The Romulans?"

A pause.

"Two dead, sir. Rest accounted for."

Sam nodded. He already knew about the two. He moved on. A Marine sat against the bulkhead while a corpsman worked on a wound along his shoulder. Sam stopped.

"You good?"

"Yes, sir."

Sam looked at the corpsman. The corpsman nodded.

"Outstanding."

He moved on. That was how he did it; its how he worked. A question. A name. Sometimes nothing more than eye contact and a nod. Swede was accounted for. Gami. Nenaa. Young and his people had returned with Kerilia. Team A. Team B. The Romulans. He wasn't there to supervise Medical. Nobody needed Captain Woolheater standing over them while they worked. He just needed to see his people. A medical technician emerged quickly through a doorway carrying equipment.

"Excuse me, Captain."

"Sorry."

Sam pressed himself against the bulkhead. It didn't help much. The technician squeezed past him. Sam looked down at himself and decided that perhaps out of the way was a relative concept. Eventually, he reached another treatment room.

Through the window he could see Colonel Naxea. She was in surgery. He didn't go inside. Medical personnel moved around her, occasionally blocking his view. Sam remained where he was, helmet tucked beneath one arm, and watched quietly through the glass.

She was alive.

~Good.~

His shoulders dropped perhaps half an inch. That was when he noticed how badly they hurt. The adrenaline was finally surrendering its claim on him. Sam rolled one shoulder experimentally. Something cracked. Nope.

He looked through the window again. The Colonel was alive. That was enough for now. There would be time later. Sam continued down the corridor until he found an equipment case shoved against the wall and sat on it. He placed his helmet beside him and leaned forward, forearms resting against his thighs. He leaned back and closed his eyes and just listened. He had seen what the Lonian's did. He didn't like it. That was not justice. That was not even lawful.

He heard a bang as something dropped and one of the rescued cried out in muffled pain. For several seconds, he simply stared at the deck. Then he tapped his combadge.

"Computer, begin supplemental mission log. Captain Samuel Woolheater. Stardate 75352.45."

The computer chirped.

"Ground operation on Niea IV is complete. Team A, Team B and all associated recovery elements have returned to Elysium. All assigned recovery objectives were secured. All detainees located during the operation have been recovered." Sam rubbed absently at some of the dust on his forearm. It didn't accomplish much. "Casualties are still being evaluated. Medical has the wounded. Formal accounting will follow."

A pause.

"Marine personnel performed exceptionally." Sam thought through the operation.

"Henderson and Gami's breaching work kept Bravo moving through multiple hardened barriers under fire. Team A recovered the standard-security detainees. Swede did first rate work on blowing down shielded doors and hardened infrastructure. And the Romulans gave us the backup and additional firepower we needed. Captain Young's element recovered Kerilia Dosivi. Starfighter support gave us the window we needed and kept Lonian air defenses looking up instead of at us."

His eyes dropped to the dried green blood across his armor. "The Romulan personnel attached to the operation fought alongside us throughout the assault. Two were killed." Sam went quiet. "They went through the door with us. They took fire with us. They helped bring our people home." His voice remained even.

"They're Marines in my book. I'd go to the front with them oh hell yes. Record them that way."

Somewhere farther inside Sickbay, medical equipment sounded an alert. Sam instinctively looked toward it before realizing nobody was calling for him. He continued. "Colonel Naxea has been recovered alive and is receiving medical treatment." Silence. That one mattered. "I...can stand to lose a lot. But, please...not my CO. Not now." He sighed, heavy and tired.

"Operation Sunrise accomplished its objective. Strauss OP executed as planned." The corner of his mouth moved. "The music worked. Damn pilots did a hell of a job too."

Sam looked along the corridor. Battered Marines sat against bulkheads. A corpsman was arguing with one of them about removing his armor. Medical personnel moved through the doors. Somewhere inside were the people they'd gone down there to find. "We went down there with a list of names." Sam paused. "We came back with them." His thumb found the control on his combadge.

"End supplemental log."

For another few seconds, Captain Samuel Woolheater remained where he was. Then he picked up his helmet and pushed himself to his feet with a quiet grunt.

There were still people he hadn't checked on.


[OFF:]

--
​Captain Samuel Woolheater, SFMC
Executive Officer, Marine Detachment
Sniper / Infantry Officer
Precision Fires & Recon Division
62nd Company "Spartans"
=/\= USS Elysium NCC-89000 =/\=