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Ep. 2: S [Day 02 | 1743 hrs] Lay Down Your Burdens

Cmdr. (3rd) Hassar al-Zaheer | Observation Lounge 4 | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @chXinya
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Stars, in their multitudes, filling the darkness of space with a great orderly light. A glimpse into the past of hundreds if not thousands of years. The beauty of it served to both awe Hassar and fill him with a strange heavy sensation like anxiety at the thought of what lay beyond for as many little pinpricks of light were stars, just as many were galaxies with their own millions of stars. He hoped to one day lay down his burdens and see them before he passed into the spirit world. Hassar gazed at the stars in wonder from a floor to ceiling window of one of Theurgy’s small observation lounges that were dotted throughout the ship; a small austere room with but a couple couches that faced out the window. He had found this place as he wanted somewhere a bit more tranquil than his quarters to meditate on the day’s events and the great battle that was yet to come, but as he sat crossed legged on the floor he couldn’t help but forgo his meditation and just stare into space.

Unlike Starfleet ships, Arosan military vessels had no windows, except perhaps a small viewing port near an airlock to aid in docking; the concern that one of these windows could break and depressurize a compartment was too great. For Hassar, he didn’t see the stars for almost the first ten years of his life, and even after the only times he could see them, out the cockpit of a transport craft, through the small windows of a civilian vessel, the time to gaze upon them was always short and unsatisfying. It wasn’t until his species found their new home world that he could finally take the time to actually look up and appreciate the beauty of the heavens. It honestly boggled his mind the more he interacted with members of Starfleet how they could be so dismissive of the fact that they could so easily see the stars, but he was sure it was simply because they had had a far different relation to space than his people did.

Having originally intended to meditate he had stripped off his gear down to just his trousers, laid it on one of the couches along with his guns, and, per his cultural customs, removed his boots and left them by the door. This left him shirtless apart from a bandage wrapped around his chest and the ritualistic body paint he had applied to various parts of his body and face for meditation. Hassar shifted a little to get more comfortable with a mild wince of pain. His wounds from fighting the Romulan earlier in the day had been healed but were still pretty tender. The doctor explained that the tenderness had something to do with the instruments not being fully calibrated for his anatomy or something like that. Medicine was not his strong suit. Surprisingly though it was not the knife wound in his thigh that hurt but rather the big burn he had in the center of his chest. Turns out he had been lucky, his armor had protected him from the disruptor blast itself but the heat had melted the armor material which burned his skin. He actually hadn’t felt the burning sensation at the time, just the feeling like somebody had kicked him in the chest. At any rate, it was distracting for the purposes of meditation which required that he bring his knuckles together in front of his chest with his thumbs pressed into it; every time he twitched or breathed there would be a twinge of pain as the sensitive flesh was prodded and rubbed through his bandage.

He sighed and shook his head then gleaned back out the window, not so much at the stars this time but the spectral streaks of light that flew past. This was an artifact of warp, if he understood what he was told by a Starfleet engineer correctly, though the streaks would seem to be stars flying past they were actually light from stars and other luminous objects being distorted around the warp field as the ship moved. As much as he wasn’t an expert in medical affairs nor was he in warp either, though his people simply called it faster-than-light (FTL). Nonetheless he found the strange streaks mesmerizing to watch and he remembered back on his first trip aboard a Federation starship when he spent hours staring at them, and the stars, from out the window of his quarters.

But he could not remain staring out the window forever, he had duties to attend to before the ship reached its destination and he hoped to get some actual mediation in before he was needed elsewhere. After re-adjusting himself, Hassar took a few slow deep breaths to relax his body then closed his eyes. Slowly he brought his knuckles together in front of his chest, finding a spot that wasn’t too tender, then started to slowly inhale and exhale. His mind focussed on his breathing then gradually it drifted away into some deep recess that only Hassar could reach. He thought of nothing in particular, just took enjoyment in the peaceful silence of an empty world; there was no Theurgy nor great window of stars, no fear or anxiety, his problems were an unfathomable distance from where he was now.

Balance…

Hassar had no way of knowing how long he was in this state but the sudden familiar swish of the doors to the room broke his concentration and took him out of his tranquil state. He turned his head and torso to get a look at the newcomer as said newcomer apologized for disturbing him. Though he had the lights of the lounge turned off to allow the natural starlight to fill the space, the lights of the corridor illuminated what Hassar was pretty sure was a Andorian, the blue aliens with antennae. This one was a lighter tone than he had seen before with long hair. Even in the low light he could see that the Andorian had handsome features.

“No, it’s ok you can come in if you like”, Hassar called after the Andorian before he could leave.

I should have locked the door, he thought to himself as he turned back to the big window of stars with a small smile.

Re: Ep. 2: S [Day 02 | 1743 hrs] Lay Down Your Burdens

Reply #1 –
[Ens. Irnashall “Shall ch’Xinya | Observation Lounge 4 | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] attn: @joshs1000

Walking down the hallway with a faster than usual stride, Shall kept his grumbling down to an internal monologue, though his antenna made his mood obvious to anyone who saw it. Between the fighting and the slipstream failure the Stellar Cartography lab’s link to the external sensors had been damaged *again*, limiting his ability to use the watchtower protocols like he should have been able to. Luckily he’s been able to get it mostly restored now that the current round of insanity is over, but for some reason the optical sensors refuse to auto-collimate bluring out some of the most basic imagery he had available. Luckily, a baseline reading from another source should give the computer the baseline it needs to correct the issue, and there was an observation lounge just down the corridor from the lab. That’s why he was heading there now with an optical scanner in hand, a quick look out should be all that he needs.

Of course, as usual, Shall’s head was so into the stars that he didn’t even think that the lounge wouldn’t be empty stopping short a single step in the doorway at the figure sitting in the middle of the floor. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” the Andorian quickly backpedaled, adjusting his weight to back out. The invitation to stay caught the chan off guard, and since these lounges had the best views outside of his lab or standing on the hull, his feet froze in place, a slight wobble throwing off his balance. Steadying himself with a hand on the door frame for a moment, Shall nodded his head in appreciation and stepped inside. As the door slid closed behind him the corridor lighting vanished, plunging the room into near-total darkness. With only the dimmed wall console and the warp-distorted stars providing light everything was little more than a dark shape blocking out the stars, or a dark blur standing out against a slightly lighter backdrop depending on which way you looked. Shall’s eyes were quick to adjust though, and after a few moments he was confident enough to make his way towards the transparent aluminum without tripping over anything.

“I just need to mount this sensor to the frame.” He explained, holding up the scanner for the other man (judging from the bulky silhouette and deeper voice) to see, not that he would’ve been able to see much. “I work in one of the labs nearby, trying to get the sensors back into collimation.” Going by feel, Shall found the mounting point in the framework and clipped the sensor to it. Pulling a small PADD out of a side holder, the scientist activated the device and linked it to the Cartography Lab,, everything ready to go once they drop out of warp. Turning around, Shall noticed the pose his current compatriot had assumed on the floor, and he studied him for a few silent moments. “Looking for once in particular, or just using the stars as a whole?” he asked, arms crossing across his chest and leaning against the window casually, antenna bent towards the other man.

Re: Ep. 2: S [Day 02 | 1743 hrs] Lay Down Your Burdens

Reply #2 –
Cmdr. (3rd) Hassar al-Zaheer | Observation Lounge 4 | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @chXinya
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The Andorian accepted Hassar’s offer to enter, the room plunged back into the barely lit darkness as the doors swished closed behind the man. Hassar turned back towards the large window, with somebody present it would be difficult for him to properly focus on his meditation, so he just looked back out at the stars. Not that he couldn’t do it around others, but there was a certain discomfort he found meditating around aliens, they always wanted to stare or ask questions, perhaps even silently judge. There was also just the added fact that to Hassar this part of his spirituality he always preferred to keep private, a way to truly help expand his mind without the worry of someone else in the room. Granted he should have locked the door to the observation lounge if he truly wanted privacy; spirits liked to silently whisper in the ears of those most in touch with their world, perhaps one convinced Hassar to leave it unlocked so he could have a bit of company.

As he mused on this, the Andorian explained that he was putting up some sort of sensor for some reason, one of the words did not translate; collimation. He just nodded and in his deep voice with a strong Middle Eastern sounding accent, he responded in a neutral tone, “No concerns from me, I wouldn’t wish to keep you from your duties.”

He once again went back to silently staring out the window as the Andorian moved off to his left to attach his device to the frame with some clicks followed by a few beeps when the device activated. Silence followed once more but Hassar could sense the blue man’s eyes upon him even in the near darkness. The silence was broken when the question of what exactly he was looking for among the stars came up. Hassar looked up to the standing Andorian, nothing but a dark silhouette apart from the bit of backlighting of long wavy hair. Hassar chuckled and shook his head, “No, nothing in particular, I’m not very well versed on the stars, I could look at hundreds of them and swear each one was Kyrofala, the star of my home world…I prefer just to sit and appreciate their beauty.”

He paused for a moment then added, “When I was a child, I never saw the stars for well over a decade…there were no windows on the ship we lived on…now though I try to look upon them every chance I get.”

Suddenly the stars were replaced with streaks of white and blue light, bathing the lounge in it and fully revealing the two occupants. If Hassar recalled correctly the light was some sort of ionization of either space dust or gas as it struck the energetic warp field.* Fun while it lasted, Hassar thought to himself while shaking his head, there was no way of knowing exactly how long the light show would last, hopefully it hadn’t ruined whatever the Andorian, which with the room illuminated, Hassar could see was part of the Starfleet science division, was working on. Though that wasn’t all Hassar had noticed about him, now in the proper light the fully handsomeness of this Andorian filled his gaze, and handsome was not something he threw around lightly when it came to aliens. This one had several features any Vaharran would swoon over, a strong chin, large perky lips, a handsomely sculpted nose, and piercing eyes of blue. For Hassar’s own personal tastes he also found the thick white eyebrows appealing and he could help but try to get a better look at the antennae more closely as his curiosity piqued.

Hassar realized he was staring and quickly turned away and cleared his throat. With a bit of an exaggerated sigh he got to his feet and remarked, “Well I guess that’s the end of that for the moment…hopefully your experiment wasn’t ruined.”

Hassar himself was no slouch in the looks department either, at least he thought so anyway; once fully on his feet he stood a few centimeters taller than the Andorian, minus the antennae, though he certainly was a lot bulkier with his powerful muscular build. At a glance one might mistake him for a Klingon due to his cranial ridges but the pointed ears and greenish brown skin dispelled that notion, another notable feature was that his ridges, in reality super hard armor plates, extended down his spin and also appeared in the area of his sternum adding a bit of unique contours to his already well contoured body. He had some body hair though it was notably thin and surprisingly soft as well as his jet black beard which he kept well groomed, beyond that he had no other hair on his body, well that the Andorian would have been able to see.

With a stretch and a crack of his neck, Hassar moved back to take a seat on the couch that had his gear. He stole another quick glance at his handsome companion before removing some folded up papers from a duffle bag and a pen. Unlike Starfleet they still had physical paperwork to do, in this case Hassar had been given a final inventory of all the equipment his marines had brought on board, something that he needed to review then file away later. However, as much as he tried, he could not help but feel his curiosity taking hold.

Finally he just kind of blurts out, “So do you hear with those also or do they sense other things?”


OOC Note-
*This is just my head cannon for why sometimes in Trek their are just the star streaks and others why there is sometimes the Star Warsesque hyper-space thing going on.

Re: Ep. 2: S [Day 02 | 1743 hrs] Lay Down Your Burdens

Reply #3 –
[Ens. Irnashall “Shall ch’Xinya | Observation Lounge 4 | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] attn: @joshs1000

His compatriot’s answer caught Shall off guard, though he did his best to keep his reaction contained. Journals written by the Aenar had taught him as a youth that not everyone got to enjoy the night sky for large portions of their life, but no windows on a starship? What travesty led to that oversight? Shall’s mouth opened to say something when the high vacuum warp streaks were suddenly replaced with the low vacuum light display, whiteish-blue swirls of various visual radiations billowing past the large window, disrupting his train of thought in the process. Blue eyes snapped to the window for a moment before returning to his companion, already climbing to his feet.

“No, there’s no experiment I’m running, I’m just setting up a repair one of the sensor arrays I maintain. Nothing will happen until we drop out of warp.” Shall gestured towards the small device he’d mounted to the window, “I need a pair of images of the same object from as far apart a perspective as I can get, which in this case is from the port and starboard sides of the ship. From there the computer can figure out how to get the visual array back into focus.” The astrophysicist slipped into his technical speech way too easily, his eagerness to share knowledge almost to the point of rambling. “Not unlike your eyes and brain.” He quickly added, not sure if the man understood what he was trying to do.

Speaking of the other man, with the brighter illumination Shall was able to get a better look at him, and he was an interesting specimen. First thought was that he was some sort of Klingon or related species, the ridged forehead and and incredibly muscular physique typical of the warrior species, but the ears were all wrong. And the skin color too. The body paints caught his eye as well, but he had trouble focusing on them between the dancing light and the rippling of the musculature as he moved to sit down next to a small pile of things. The question about hearing caught Shall by surprise, his mind wasn’t exactly paying attention to the sounds around him ironically.

“I’m sorry what?” The chan said at first, then realized where those green eyes were staring: right at the top of Shall’s head. “Oh, my antennae. No, they’re not auditory organs, but we can get a slight sense of strong EM fields.” The low vacuum warp effect faded back into the dark high vacuum one he preferred, plunging the room back into darkness, though the ambient light strips provided just enough light that Shall could see his reflection in the transparent aluminum. Glancing at it out of the corner of his eye he waggled the intact antenna and frowned forelornly at the stump of his severed one. It’s shown some growth finally, enough time having passed since Theta Eridani IV that he’d gotten at least a centimeter of it back. “I take it you’re one of the civilians we picked up? I’m Ensign ch’Xinya, part of the small science division we have on board.”

Re: Ep. 2: S [Day 02 | 1743 hrs] Lay Down Your Burdens

Reply #4 –
Cmdr. (3rd) Hassar al-Zaheer | Observation Lounge 4 | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @chXinya
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Hassar listened to the explanation of what exactly the experiment was, it actually made more sense than the blue alien probably knew. On vaharran ships, lacking the advanced sensor arrays of like Starfleet has, fixes of position were done with optical telescopes and readings taken from pulsars. While Hassar himself was just a Marine, he was qualified in basic navigation, one of the requirements to be able to command a ship. The hard part was all the math, though thanks to assistance from the Klingons, their ships now had computers that could do a lot of the tedious work, replacing the role of the entire combat information center which handled complex navigation.

Darkness descended once more and Hassar sighed in annoyance as he had just started to read the papers on his lap, still intently listening as Shall explained his antennae. He found them quite curious but resisted, for the moment, the urge to touch them, unsure if that was some sort of culturally taboo thing. Instead he just nodded and glanced back up from his papers to examine them once more in the dim light.

Then came the question, was he a civilian, he smiled in amusement and then offered a hand to shake, something he had learned during his time with humans, as he spoke.

“I guess technically from your point of view I am but I’m with the Arosian Marines, part of my people’s military, Commander, 3rd Rank, Hassar al-Zaheer, though you can just call me Commander al-Zaheer if you prefer…or just Hassar.”

Saying his full rank out loud reminded him of his work as he glanced around the room, then with some uncertainty he said in a raised voice, “Computer…uh…can you make the lights dim?”

The computer obediently beeped in response and the lights turned on to a nice cozy level as well as allowing the two men to get a better look at each other. Hassar turned back to his companion and raised his brow in surprise upon seeing the blue skin of Shall properly, it had a wonderful shade of blue that contrasted nicely with his long white hair. The allure of how it so well complimented the handsome young man’s features caused the vaharran to perhaps stare a little longer than he intended.

He cleared his throat and scratched his cheek before turning back to his paperwork.

“Yeah so uh, we were out here searching for a missing ship and found your ship, we think this Infested enemy you fight might be the culprits.”

He scribbled some things in his own language on one of the pieces of paper and swapped it for another as he continued.

“I must say though, it’s been a little bit of an adjustment for us. The quiet on your vessel makes it hard to sleep so I’ve been resorting to meditation, plus the language barriers, your translation device helps but some words sound like gibberish.”


An additional little image of Hassar I made for the thread.   /;-D

Re: Ep. 2: S [Day 02 | 1743 hrs] Lay Down Your Burdens

Reply #5 –
[Ens. Irnashall “Shall ch’Xinya | Observation Lounge 4 | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] attn: @joshs1000

Nodding in apology, Shall quickly took the offered hand, grateful for the shared custom. “My apologies Commander. I spend so much of my time cooped up in my lab I tend to miss the finer points of what is happening around us. Plus it’s not too often we come across military vessels in distress for First Contact, normally they’re civilian ships.”

As the light level increased Shall stood and glanced at the sheets in Hassar’s hands and lap, curiosity getting the better of him at first. Of course he couldn’t read any of it, the alien symbols completely foreign to the chan, just as much as Federation Standard was at first, but they interested him enough that he missed the stare. Looking up to the other man’s face when he made a sound and moved again, Shall frowned at the mention of the Infested. “For their sakes I pray to Uzaveh that that’s not the case. It never ends well whenever someone runs across them…”

For reasons he can’t quite figure out, Shall finds himself sitting down in one of the other chairs, angling himself so that he can watch both Hassar and the view outside at the same time. “Quiet? I guess it really is a matter of perspective, most newcomers to Federation ships tend to complain the persistent background noise is too loud for them to sleep. As for the universal translator, give it some time, while it usually allows for basic communication quickly it has to have more exposure to be more precise.” He explains with a shrug for the latter half before gesturing towards the paper. “What is it you’re working on?”
 

Re: Ep. 2: S [Day 02 | 1743 hrs] Lay Down Your Burdens

Reply #6 –
Cmdr. (3rd) Hassar al-Zaheer | Observation Lounge 4 | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @chXinya
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“You haven’t been aboard our ships”, Hassar says with a chuckle as he puts his signature at the bottom of the page he is reading.

“Inventory reports and logs, we still don’t have a lot of computer storage yet…so paper it is.”

The amount of paper they had acquired in the over nearly 300 years in space was rather astounding, records upon records, upon records, but they could make paper, they couldn’t make hard drives, not many anyway.

“It’s a bit of a shame though, we had to delete many digital works from our drives over the years because we needed the storage for something else. There are whole books that have been written in our inventory to describe films, music, video games, and more, now lost, but it will never be the same as experiencing the original.”

Hassar finished his little lament, probably a bit more serious than the interaction called for but there was truth in it, for him at least. While no vaharrans from the Old World survived the journey, the generations that followed, like Hassar, did not pine for the Old World, they lamented what was lost as he did now, but their eyes turned to the new world the future that they struggled and suffered for for decades until one glorious day they stumbled upon the perfect planet to call home. Now they rebuild and strive for progress in this new world and in this new part of the galaxy, it would be many generations before their civilization was what it once was, but every vaharran was happy to plant trees they would never see the shade of.

He shook his head and sighed, “Ignore my rambling, I just have a lot on my mind since I arrived here.”

A broad genuine smile formed on his face to show he wasn’t totally in a dour mood, but the thoughts still lingered none the less.

His neck and shoulder muscles ached, all the strenuous activity from earlier in the day, and getting shot in the chest, kind of took it out of him. The Starfleet doctor, the muscular one, Leux if he remembered correctly, offered some sort of additional drugs but Hassar was uncertain if he should take them and instead took some pain killers from the ones his group had brought on board. Even so the aches and stiffness were still there.

“There, that should be the last of it”, Hassar said with a sigh, tossing the metal clipboard onto the table next to him.

Relieved of work, suddenly weariness that had been lurking in the background made itself known and with a groan Hassar rubbed his eyes to fight it off, at least for now. The urge to stretch took hold as much as he fought it, his arms lifted and he extended them out to pull the internal sinews, along the way he stretched his neck as well which also cracked, eliciting a groan of relief. More pertinent to Shall though, if he chose to look when this inadvertent display occurred, was the fact that Hassar’s muscles flexed and bulged beneath his thick green skin, a hint at his strength.

He sighed again, much better.

He hadn’t forgotten about his companion though, far from it, his mind, previously tabulating equipment that was older than he was, was now considering all the questions to ask the blue skinned creature before him. He didn’t want to come across though overly curious or perhaps get into territory that was private, he didn’t know the culture very well and also had been on the receiving end of some overly personal questions about his own species. Finally he spoke up after clearing his throat.

“So I can’t say I’ve ever really had a chance to speak to an andorian, beyond pleasantries that is”, he began as he got comfortable with his arms resting on the back of the couch, “when I was part of your Starfleet’s Officer Exchange, there was an Admiral…oh I forget her name, but she was sort of the liaison, but she told us where to go and all that.”

He scratched his beard for a moment as he tried to remember the woman’s name but he had referred to her as “Admiral” so much he could not.

“Anyway, we never got to talk much, but if you don’t mind I am curious about your people and reading a database entry on one of your computers doesn’t have that personal touch as they say.”

He smiles again, his green eyes briefly glinting with something, excitement perhaps, curiosity for sure, but something else.
 
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