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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: C01: S [D01|[0940] - Shipping Out
Last post by P.C. Haring -Kestra had known there might be a detour on her way to the final destination. Captain Lau had alluded to the same when he picked her up on starbase, but she had not expected they would be hitting a Romulan weapons research station. Given her history, she had been briefed on Romulan Thaloron technology and how it had almost destroyed the Enterprise-E. But she hadn’t truly expected she’d ever come face to face with the technology.
Quietly, she stood in the corner of the room while Lau briefed her and the crew on the details of the mission, Kestra let out a quiet sigh. What she wouldn’t do for her war time Rapid Response Unit. If she had that team still at her disposal, they could have made mince meat out of the facility and no one would have been the wiser. But that would never happen. From her own fire team, Amado was a Captain now, Galbraith was dead, and Labonne had resigned the service after the death of her father. The rest of her unit had been long since re-assigned and scattered. At least officially.
She suspected the RRU still operated in secret, especially given the endorsement she had received from Admiral Anderson. But in this moment, at this place, that was neither here nor there. She could only work with what she had available to her, and she had technically been placed under Lau’s command for the duration of this trip.
Kestra listened as Lau finished up, asked what she needed to ask, and returned quickly to her quearters when he dismissed the meeting. Even though they were still eight hours out, Pren found herself already falling into her familiar habits.
The duffel came out of the closed where she had stowed it and she began unpacking. The personal items she had brought with her, as well as the things she had specifically set aside for when she finally met Lt. Suder were grouped together, along with the isolenear chip that stored the replicator patterns for her wardrobe.
At the bottom of the large duffel lay what she sought.
It had been difficult for her to properly pack her tactical vest. Common sense told her to store it in the replicator files she brought with her, but superstition had won out. That vest was hers. It had seen her through the war, through her special assignments, and to put it into the replicator for storage felt like destroying it. Even though the wear and tear the vest had seen would be preserved, it just didn’t seem right. At some point, she knew she would have to retire the vest. It simply would reach it’s end. But even then she would not discard it as it had been with her since AR-558.
Setting the vest on her bed, she turned back to her bag and pulled out the lock box that contained her phasers. The type two holstered onto her belt, and she snapped the type one around her ankle. The combat knife she left on the bed next to the vest.
Finally, she realized, that she needed to have Lau assign her a rifle. Early and premature, yes. But she would need time to disassemble it, check it, and adjust it to her preferences.
Perhaps a bit much, all things considered, but this, was who she was. Years ago she had shipped out to the Dominion front. Today she was shipping out to the USS Theurgy by way of a Romulan weapons research lab. Yet no matter the assignment, the old war soldier that was Kestra Pren could not, would not, let go of her rituals.
After all, as they had served her so well in the past, and given the chaos she knew was sure to come, why should she?
-FIN