Star Trek: Theurgy

CH04: S [D04|0800] Reparations

August 19, 2018, 05:02:23 PM

Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 hrs. ] Reparations

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

After the Savi attack on their ship, just about everything was in disarray. The gripe sheets from their ceaseless flight were lengthening by the day, and then coming up against a proverbial brick wall across the highway had almost been enough to stop them stone dead. Engineering had already been through this section in order to assess structural and infrastructure viability, but the individual system integrations were left for Ops to come and check through.

And for every item we check off, three more are added to the foot of the list, Nator groused to hirself.

The entire starboard flank of the ship had been stressed when the Versant perforated them with their shot, not to mention the energy influx, and so pretty much everyone was being drafted to perform diagnostics and repairs. With the ship having split apart to ensure survival, that wasn't as impressive as it sounded. But now that s/he was Acting Chief of Operations, and had no direct superior to tell hir that s/he shouldn't be working every hour s/he was able, Nator was pitching in with everyone else. Orders were disseminated to division leads, and the work began in earnest.

"Another misaligned impeller. Pass me that coupler, would you, Crewman?" s/he gestured. "No. On the left. On your left. The coupler. Thank you."

There were five of them working in this compartment, with another couple yet to arrive, and a Tactical ensign running software checks on the control units as they were serviced. The loading mechanisms and magazine racks for the torpedo pods loomed behind them, with the short rails comprising the ejection mechanisms for firing the pods themselves lining the exterior bulkhead before them. Only one of the launchers so far hadn't required some form of realignment or repair. One had to be taken out of service entirely, pending replacement.

A dozen metres away, the reinforced double doors opened with a pneumatic hiss and the rumble of heavy bearings - as s/he looked over hir shoulder, s/he saw the remainder of their little work detail. Nator stood to face them and clapped hir hands together to brush some of the accumulated grime from them. "Good morning," s/he greeted, a wryness to hir tone indicating s/he was well aware it could be called anything but. "Crewman, if you could assist on the number three launcher, they're having some trouble with the targeting array. Mister Herrold, could-"

Nator stopped cold, suddenly finding it difficult to finish a sentence. "Ah, could you-"

Not only was this a face from years past, this was a face s/he recognised without needing a voice or scent to attach to it first. Despite working in rooms full of people since hir discharge from sickbay, s/he had been an island of cognisance amidst a sea of prosopamnesia. It had been the loneliest week of hir life - including all the years s/he had spent away from Hermat.

S/he cleared hir throat and made an effort at a smile. "I missed your name on the roster, Chief. It has been a long time."

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #1 – August 23, 2018, 09:26:13 PM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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When Liam Herrold had stepped through the sliding doors, he had not been all there. Physically, sure, he had even donned a full uniform since he had been slated of duties outside the Fighter Bay that morning, but his mind was still on the night before, and the morning, and the shower, and... well, the fine company he had shared through it all. He had only parted with Ji a short while past, having shared breakfast before they went about their day. It was all a rather welcome tiredness, he felt, but even when she wasn't there, he was distracted by her. Earlier, he had even found himself chuckling and shaking his head to a joke she had made back when she woke him up.

So, it took Liam the span of several seconds to finally catch up on why he recognised that voice he was hearing, and not even when he stared directly into hir eyes - and s/he said his name - did he realize it was hir. "N-Nator?" he said, as if he was as dough-brained as his fair appearance suggested to some who had never met him before, "Lieutenant. What a... surprise."

He wasn't sure what kind of surprise it was yet, at once remembering how they had not parted on good terms. S/he represented an... awkward time for him. A younger mindset of his, where he had been more arrogant, and thought he knew more than people twice his age. He had thought that, just because of his own feelings, she might feel the same way. It had been a... good lesson learned. One that he did not care to re-learn, since it had stayed with him since.

"Yeah, I... didn't know you served on the Theurgy either. Did you come aboard from another ship or... was this your commissioning since, well, since 'Earth' happened?" he asked... before realizing that they were hardly alone. He glanced towards the gathered crew, some of whom looked back at him just as quizzically, and he cleared his throat. "My apologies, Lieutenant. Where do you want us all?"

Perhaps there was a chance they could speak whilst they were working, but Liam didn't quite know what to say. It had been more than three years since the... the 'rejection', frankly put, but it seemed so small a word for the amount of hurt that had lingered afterwards. Now, he had healed, of course, but seeing her again made him... uneasy.

Why was she so friendly towards him though? She had almost seemed... relieved in seeing him?

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #2 – September 01, 2018, 10:53:11 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

The Hermat's smile faded further back to hir professional mask as Herrold's stupefied silence stretched on. Of course he wouldn't exactly be pleased to see hir; their last meeting had been vicious enough that s/he ended up being demoted for how s/he had spoken to him - and then the superior who wandered over to try and break it up. He could hardly be blamed for his hesitation.

"N-Nator? Lieutenant. What a... surprise."

Well, there was a carefully neutral statement if ever s/he'd heard one. But even now, a scant moment into their.. reunion, s/he found hirself agreeing with the tone in principle. What could s/he expect here? Of all the faces s/he could have remembered, why did it have to be this one?

"Yeah, I... didn't know you served on the Theurgy either. Did you come aboard from another ship or... was this your commissioning since, well, since 'Earth' happened?" Nator took a breath and held it for an instant as s/he wondered how to address that. Liam's gaze flicked from hir to the collected crew (who were studiously avoiding looking in their direction while they worked) then back to hir. "My apologies, Lieutenant. Where do you want us all?"

Evidently, s/he had him flustered enough not to notice that his companions had already joined the present detail. S/he cleared hir own throat in sympathy before gesturing behind hir. "This impeller is giving me some trouble, actually."

S/he ducked back down next to the rail assembly, grabbing hir coupler and getting it into place. "Before I nail this thing back into place finally, could you check it over for microfractures?" The lieutenant was confident he didn't need telling why it would be bad if there was a jammed trolley full of live antimatter warheads. He had been a weapons tech by training, at least when s/he had known him.

Nator worked in silence for a moment, still wondering how much s/he could say within the realms of politeness regarding his questions. Keeping it factual seemed both best and easiest.

"I was assigned to Thea from the start," s/he said, keeping hir focus on hir work. "After 'Earth', as you said, neither my superiors nor I wanted me to stick around the fleet yards. Her first cruise went well enough, apart from our return to Sol. I was... injured in the escape. They woke me up a few days ago."

The explanation seemed entirely inadequate to convey the magnitude of it. The sense of loss and betrayal. The fact that s/he was cut off from (almost) everyone by both a gulf of experience and a lack of recognition. Without checking the logs and rosters, s/he had no idea if hir old colleagues were still alive on this ship or not. It still hurt too much to admit that s/he needed to check.

And s/he couldn't tell a soul, lest it get back to the Chief. Stark would remove hir from duty in a breath, and then not only would s/he be an outsider to a tightly-bound crew, but a passenger carried by it. The notion made hir feel sick.

"What about you, Mister Herrold? I don't imagine we had much opportunity for a layover at a friendly starbase to effect transfers."

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #3 – September 04, 2018, 08:23:55 PM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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When Nator told Liam s/he'd been there since the ship's commissioning, it made a lot of sense. Perhaps he had even heard about hir new posting before he fell off the grid of known space, but if that had been the case, he couldn't recall. After all, it had been three years since then, and so much had happened since then. To much to tell hir, actually.

"No, even though I might not have been in stasis..." he said, casting a worried glance towards hir, but since s/he was alive and well, on duty all, he could only surmise that whatever had ailed hir had been taken care of by Medical, "I have been as oblivious as you have for years."

Clearing his throat, he had heard what s/he needed of him, and picked up a tricorder, moving towards the area that needed to be scanned for micro-fractures. "Unless you were out of stasis at the time, you might have heard about the battle at Starbase 84," he said, and sat down on his knees, beginning the scans. His blue eyes were glued to the small screen on the tricorder while he spoke, needing to have a keen eye since the fractures would only be small fluctuations in the output. "I have been beyond Romulan space, far off at the edge of the Beta Quadrant, aboard the Resolve. These past three years are... too much to retell now, but I would assume you heard about the Resolve back when we vanished."

He paused, seeing a fracture, and tapped the screen to mark it for later reference. He continued his scans. "In the end, I was Asst. Chief of the Deck on that Luna-class ship, until the Infested CO of the starbase incriminated Captain Kendrick and the whole crew to cover up his own dealings with the Romulans. Captain Ives saved us, however, letting us evacuate the ship mid-battle and come aboard Vector 01. The hull you call... 'the Helmet'?"

Taking a deep breath, finding another fracture, he continued after making another mark. "Since then, I have found myself in the same role that I had on the Resolve, only in a larger fighter bay. I report to Covington, and my personal weapons technican crew is a mix between people from the Resolve and the Theurgy. I guess I was picked to ease the transition for the new deck crew, being a familiar face and all to them."

He realised how modest he sounded, right then, when in hir company. He remembered how... entitled he had felt when he spoke with hir last, and if the meeting couldn't become more awkward than it was, remembering how he had behaved towards hir made him cringe inside. He might as well address it.

"Hey, I..." he cleared his throat and paused his scans, looking towards Nator. He kept his voice low for sake of a modicum of privacy. He fought the urge to scratch his neck, instead looking at hir. "It might have been three years, but you taught me a good lesson. It has stuck with me since. I have remembered it well, and... I want to apologise, finally, for making you end up demoted, and for being such a..."

He couldn't really find a word for it. Nothing vile enough came up. “...such an inflated, arrogant boy. I wish I could make it up to you, but I can’t. You should know that I regret what happened, though, bitterly. The only boon was that I... well, I would like to think I became a better person, overall, because of your rejection.”

He had practised this apology many times, but when he finally met hir, his mere words seemed so inadequate.

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #4 – September 12, 2018, 11:12:19 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

While Liam spoke, nothing but the hum of hir coupler came from hir as s/he listened, electing instead to glance up and nod to show s/he was still paying attention. "I read the logs from between my entering stasis and being brought out of it. I skipped the roster though-" because I knew it wouldn't matter. I can't just tell him that, though- "-because.. well. Of course there would be changes, losses," s/he explained a little lamely. That he'd gone to the Resolve, though... Starfleet was huge, but it was still tightly-knit, and a lot of hir colleagues had known mutual acquaintances on that ship when the news of its disappearance broke. S/he hirself thought that s/he'd been lucky, though - no one s/he knew on the crew. Alas.

One join complete, and s/he took the opportunity to focus back on the work and listen to him speak for a moment. Something tugged at hir nose, though. As with many humanoids, smells and scents were powerful memory triggers for Hermat. But if s/he hadn't recognised his face, Nator might not have recognised Liam at all. He smelled differently than s/he remembered. As he trailed off, s/he figured it out: he was covered in someone else's scent. His was there, underneath, but the other was all over him.

S/he drew a breath to make some wry and pithy comment on it, to ask the name of the latest notch on his belt perhaps, but he beat hir to the draw.

"Hey, I..." Something in his voice pulled hir up short. Nator's eyes flicked up to meet his. "It might have been three years, but you taught me a good lesson. It has stuck with me since. I have remembered it well, and... I want to apologise, finally, for making you end up demoted, and for being such a... such an inflated, arrogant boy. I wish I could make it up to you, but I can't. You should know that I regret what happened, though, bitterly. The only boon was that I... well, I would like to think I became a better person, overall, because of your rejection."

Nator sat back on hir haunches, and blinked. The coupler in hir hand stopped humming with a small click as s/he looked keenly at his face, searching for any trace of deceit... though s/he had no real reason to expect any. A instant's flashback to hirself at the fleet yards almost made hir chuckle at the prospect of just shouting at him more for making his apology about himself, even though even then-hir would probably admit that that was not how he meant it.

It had been a long time since then - arguably relatively longer for hir, given how short Hermat life spans tended to be - and they had both, evidently, changed. While s/he considered how best to reply, s/he pulled hir toolkit over and swapped the coupler for a graviton caliper. Nator sighed, then replied at last, matching his volume. 

"I appreciate the thought, Liam. Ultimately, though, I got me demoted for my... needlessly harsh and public put-down. And then telling that commander quite how far up his cloaca he could put his 'polite suggestion' that I keep it down. Even if I did think at the time that you were just trying to get the boss in the sack for the sake of bragging rights, or just to see what the business end of a Hermat looked like. Anyway," s/he said, waving a hand vaguely as if to dismiss hir own historical assumptions, "we don't tend to hold grudges for long. We just don't have the time to spare that most species do.

"I am sorry in turn for my overreaction, and the things I said to you. Especially as it meant you ended up on the Resolve and going through all that you did, just to end up pursued by Starfleet on top of it."

And as if saying it aloud made it true, s/he found that s/he didn't really harbour any ill-will towards Herrold, despite how bitterly s/he had fumed and stormed for weeks afterwards whenever she thought of 'that bastard bino' who 'thought more with his gonads than anything else' and also 'the shrivelled prick of a desk-bound commander' who had recommended s/he be demoted in the first place. But now... there were such bigger things to worry about. They had a galaxy - a universe, arguably - to save. A ship to keep flying, a fleet to outrun.

And he was the first person - of all it could have been, naturally - who s/he had no difficulty remembering.

How could s/he force that away now?

Nator doubted that much of a friendship would be on the cards either way - there was still a gulf of rank between them, let alone the amount of water under their particular bridge. But still. The fact that there was now a face s/he could freely recall was an immense relief s/he didn't know s/he needed. Perhaps that was enough?

"I'm sure I can't have knocked your confidence too much, though. Either your own quarters are wrecked and you had to hot-bunk in someone's occupied bed, or you found a new partner," the officer flashed a brief grin, tapping hir nose twice before returning to the work. "They anyone I know?" s/he added, in a conspiratorial whisper. No answer was really expected, but recent revelations had left hir in a somewhat jovial mood. Might as well make good use of it and tease an old colleague... Hm. Maybe not the most appropriate moment, though.

Mentally, s/he braced. Just in case.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #5 – September 17, 2018, 10:45:16 PM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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Not having foreseen any kind of reaction from Nator, since he didn't know hir well enough to gauge hir mood, Liam was gratified by how s/he didn't just dismiss him or ridiculed him. It would have felt... anticlimactic, given how he had spent a lot more time thinking and processing it than the Hermat seemed to have done. Of course, that came with their life-spans, as s/he pointed out. They didn't have time to wallow in 'what-ifs' and regrets, or in this particular case, hold a grudge. It was, he found, a great relief to hear that s/he readily forgave him. Despite the years that had gone by since then, it was still another weight off his shoulders.

What s/he said was that s/he was to blame as well, and well... Perhaps, but s/he'd only resorted to that public display because of his untimely approach. Instead of turning their discussion into some tug-of-war about who held the greater responsibility of it all, he forsook the opportunity to comment. Instead, he couldn't help but chuckle and rub his neck at the notion that hir species and hir rank would have had anything to do with his attraction towards hir. Oh, he could see it out of hir perspective, of course, but the truth of the matter was that s/he'd attracted him because s/he held qualities of both men and women, of which he was both attracted to. It was in hir face, hir tonality and the way s/he moved, emanating signals that could be either, which had begun to fascinate him over the time he'd worked with hir at the fleet yards.

This was, of course, another thing that was not ideal for discussion any more, since it had a chance to spin out of control very quickly. If he'd speak about what had attracted him to hir back then, he felt it would devalue the exchange of apologies they had just made. Unless s/he asked him specifically, he was happy to move away from that particular aspect of their shared past.

Then again, given what s/he changed the topic to... perhaps he'd rather not.

"Ah, well," he said, clearing his throat. He resumed his work, having tarried for far too long in their conversation. "I... I am with someone, yes. It's quite new, though, and you're the first one to notice and comment on it."

Liam wasn't entirely comfortable in the situation, but he tended to end up in highly awkward conversations all the time. "It's Chief Petty Officer Eun Sae Ji, in Fighter Ops. She's the Head of Propulsion down there, and I suppose I am her Chief too, only we both report to Sten Covington. I'm just his second-in-command when he needs me to be, after all." He just couldn't stop talking right then, right? Or could he? He wanted to, but that would be rude. He continued. "Ji and I, we, um, we ended up..."

Nononono, he couldn't tell Nator just how things had developed! He really had to change the topic, but how was he to accomplish that?

"Yeah, well, we share a lot of mutual interests." Well, of course they did. It was kind of obvious, wasn't it? They both worked in the fighter bay, right? Idiot. "We only met a couple of days ago, since, well... Yeah, obviously, we couldn't have met before I came aboard, since she's served on the Theurgy for a long time, and well I, just came aboard. We... I just think she's great. Yeah!"

He just couldn't end it like that? 'Yeah?', really? He just had to change the topic immediately.

"Have you found... someone?" he asked, and immediately realised that it might be an unfitting question for more reasons than he could count.

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 hrs. ] Reparations

Reply #6 – September 25, 2018, 09:54:14 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

S/he couldn't entirely hide the smile that spread across hir face as Liam began his story. S/he didn't even really notice it until the point of one elongated canine poked into hir opposite lip. Quickly, s/he attempted to school hir expression and met with abject failure. Instead, s/he coughed into the back of one fist while s/he inspected the magnification settings on the graviton caliper.

"... we ended up... Yeah, well, we share a lot of mutual interests."

I'll bet you do.

"We only met a couple of days ago, since, well... Yeah, obviously, we couldn't have met before I came aboard, since she's served on the Theurgy for a long time, and well I, just came aboard. We... I just think she's great. Yeah!"

Nator realised that Herrold was about hir own age, in standard years anyway. But he still counted as young, where s/he would almost be eligible for the gerontocracy on Hermat and counted as beginning the twilight of hir life. Not for the first time, s/he found hirself wondering what it would be like, living for so long as a Human. Or a Vulcan! But, as ever, simply wondered what s/he would do with hirself. Nator had managed quite a lot in hir life already, a several-month gap notwithstanding, and was mostly content with it. Anything else could safely be left to future generations.

Once we help save this one, of course.

"Have you found... someone?"

The svelte humanoid paused, sobering somewhat, as s/he considered that s/he hadn't really had time to fraternise between hir own self-imposed work schedule (and creative interpretation of Stark's orders), or even had much of a chance to interact with anyone in the few days since hir reawakening. Normally s/he would change the subject or just decline to answer, but this conversation was (uncomfortably) highlighting to hir just how starved of social interaction s/he must have been. Nator was reluctant to throw any roadblock in it before it petered out naturally... though that did throw up new problems. Namely, that s/he had all but abandoned diplomacy and idle chatter in the last week in favour of orders and repair timetables.

"Truth be told, Mister Herrold, I was never that interested in-" hir eyes flicked to his face as s/he took an instant to choose a synonym, "-physical relations. Even among Hermat, really. As for anything else..." Do not tell him. "... I've been too busy, I suppose."

Question answered, and cursing hir inability to stretch a subject, s/he hunted for new topics. While they moved a little further down the rail, quietly calling out measurements and fracture points while the rest of the team worked on other parts of the bay. One that weighed heavily on hir since reading the logs for the first time in hir quarters on that first night, and what had to do the same to everyone else, was their prospects. Especially given the sorts of things they had just endured, and what must surely lie ahead...

"Do you..." s/he began, voice lower, "do you think we'll do it? Repel the parasites, I mean. No one's really managed to answer that since I came out of sickbay..." Not even the Captain. Not really.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #7 – October 01, 2018, 12:18:07 PM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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Once Liam had overcome the chagrin of the answer he'd tried to give Nator, having felt his cheeks going a bit sanguine in the delivery, the Hermat told him that she had no real interest in relationships. Liam knew far too little about hir species to tell if that was common or not, but in a way, it was a kind of relief to know that all the things that had happened back then, when they parted ways at the fleet yards, couldn't have turned out in any other way. It killed any notions of 'what-ifs' or loose ends, and make Liam think that it had all happened for a good cause. For regardless what he'd done to get Nator's attention back then, it would still have led to him being publicly rebuked, and he would still have begun his strange journey of self-realisation on the Resolve.

Her follow-up question, while he began to finish the scans of that section of the area, caught him a bit off guard. In a sense, more so than the question about Ji.

"I'm not sure I can answer that," he said quietly, looking towards hir a moment. "Can anyone? I don't know."

He paused in thought, frowning. He wasn't sure what to say, but as he pondered the prospects, a couple of things came to mind. "I know weapon systems. Quite well, I guess. I have been modding and adjusting things no one in the Alpha Quadrant has ever seen, re-purposed alien tech for the old Grey Wolves Squadron on the Resolve for the sake of survival, giving Salvo, Meony, Neko and the rest an edge against the next hostile aliens we faced. I have tampered with things I could only guess at how they actually worked, and... as I did, I recognised a couple of things to rely on. Things that all those systems had in common, be it projectiles, energy weaponry or hard-points with an explosive charge inside them."

He cleared his throat, embarrassed to even suggest he had any kind of special knowledge, and he realised, also, that what he was about to say might sound quite pretentious. Still, he could only speak out of his own experience. "I... don't think there is a cosmic justice. No binding law that prohibit something like these Infested to spread and take over. I don't think there is a balance that might save us. I think... the rules as they are, might just be what we all experience in common. Every day."

He scratched the back of his head, glancing towards Nator and hoping to not see hir laughing at him for saying something almost philosophical. This was not his comfort zone, and he wanted it over with as soon as possible so that he didn't have to make a fool of himself any further. "I mean, like gravity. Like physics. Those things. Science-rules of existence, I guess? They are like laws, laws that suggest some kind of blind justice. A cosmic justice that's not just in the sense of right and wrong, but what we can and can't do. I know I can't completely merge a main phaser coupling with other power systems because then the fighter fuselage will blow up when the pilot pulls the trigger on his flight stick. I know this because I know the chain reaction behind it, and what I need to do to stop it from happening. I know it doesn't matter if the coupling came from the Federation or the Cafelbari tribes of the Outer Rim. It just won't work."

He was likely not making any sense at all, but he couldn't just leave his point half-made. "I mean..." he cleared his throat, smiling to hir briefly in embarrassment. "The point is that I don't believe in fate. It is not our fate to.... to have this darkness - this chaos void - swallowing our existence as a whole. I don't think our purpose is to be the victims of these parasitic offspring of the void, these agents that cultivate our existence to becoming edible - like that Acreth woman said." He took a deep breath running a hand through his hair, unsure where he was going with it all. "I just think that we need to find the right tool for the job. The right tool, and the right way to use it. This alien threat is just like any other threat, bound by the laws of this universe, even if it might be a new facet of the universe as we know it, and a new experience. Still, we can learn. We can adapt. We can make it work, and we can fight back. Call me a fool, but the voyage on the Resolve taught me that there is always a way to turn something alien into something familiar, and use it to your advantage. New tech, same rules."

In the end, however, he had to shrug, and resume his scan. "I don't think anyone knows if we will do it... but I think we can."

Somehow.

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 hrs. ] Reparations

Reply #8 – October 06, 2018, 03:15:28 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

As Liam started in on his reply, Nator considered that it was probably better than the closed question deserved. Thankfully(?) he retained his habit of rambling when uncomfortable, so it wasn't entirely another conversation thread s/he could claim to have killed. Still, though, where he did end up going after his technology-allegories seemed to be an expression of faith despite his rejection of the concept of fate.

But then again, what else did they have but the belief they would succeed? They couldn't very well give in on the mere basis of long odds. It wasn't as if s/he could just discard the basis of his reasoning being his time aboard the Resolve, either; s/he hadn't been there, and the experience was a profound one for the survivors. Nator frowned slightly to hirself as s/he worked, a crease appearing between hir brows as s/he tried to rationalise his borderline-magical-thinking with hir own rigorously-rational worldview.

The Tactical ensign handed hir a PADD as Liam was finishing up, detailing the integrity of the control units. All seemed green. "Thank you, Ensign. Begin dry-testing the repaired launchers," Nator ordered quietly.

"Aye aye." She headed back to the far end of the bay.

"... I don't think anyone knows if we will do it... but I think we can."

Nator was quiet for a moment, before using a clawtip to scratch an itch above hir ear. S/he took a moment to look over the rest of the team as they worked, checking for any obvious signs of problems personal or technical. Nothing leapt out. And while s/he might not recognise many of the faces themselves, their expressions were readable enough. Mostly tired, mostly attentive, mostly focused. Good enough.

"It just seems that whatever we do would feed into our enemy's hand," s/he said, still quiet enough that hir voice wouldn't carry. "We do nothing; they win. Presuming the warning at Starbase 84 had gone out properly and warned the quadrant of the threat; there was a good chance of a civil war and all the chaos that implies. We fight; we alienate ourselves from our allies..." Nator sighed.

"None of which is to say we shouldn't try. I just... can't help but think of the numbers. I projected how long our fuel and replication stocks would last at current consumption - barring no new calamity - and that mundane thing alone looks almost as bad as Archeron bearing down on us. We can't fight a war against some undiscovered part of the universe without a logistics chain forever..."

Gods above and below, I sound as if I'm preparing to wander off into the forest to die.

"Perhaps, as you say, all we need is the right tool."

A singularity cannon, perhaps. A subspace collapsar. Hijack the Savi vessel and turn it into the mother of all Omega bombs? S/he almost smiled at the only solutions to mind being violent ones. Part of the problem, perhaps.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #9 – October 09, 2018, 02:36:34 PM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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Liam thought about what Nator was saying for a moment while he worked, and he saw her point on those specific terms; the fight or not options. He scratched the back of his neck and glanced hir way.

"Let's say the Infested, or parasites, or whatever they are... Let's say they are a heat corrosion caused by an unregulated plasma conduit," he suggested, fairly sure where he was going with the allegory this time. "I think that... right now, we are trying to scrape off the surface corrosion from the surrounding parts. If we don't, it will spread. If we do, we exert ourselves, and we'll need to rest. I think, perhaps, we should do what the manuals say. We need to either remove the heat source, or insulate it."

Looking back at the almost finished phase of his repairs, he cleared his throat. "For once, the manuals might be right in that regard. A root cause analysis is in order, and we should fix the reason for why the damage has spread in the first place. It's always, so far, been about survival and eluding Starfleet, right? The real battle might not be fought against these hosts that act as agents for this... darkness. Perhaps the focus ought to shift to that darkness entirely?"

Even though Liam didn't like the notion, it couldn't quite escape him either.

"Perhaps we are exerting ourselves fixing things, and we'll not have energy for the real repairs that needs to be done?"

As glum as it might be in one regard, it would also suggest that there was a way - only that they had yet to find it.

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 hrs. ] Reparations

Reply #10 – October 15, 2018, 11:08:51 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

"It's hard to disagree with the premise of treating the cause rather than chasing the symptoms. Unfortunately, the symptoms are the only thing we can so far interact with."

S/he sighed, and clicked the graviton caliper off at last. Sitting back on hir haunches, s/he leaned both hands on hir thighs and shook hir head as s/he looked at hir lap. From what s/he had seen, they'd been forced to react. The scant moments of downtime for recuperation Nator had read about in the ship's logs was invariably interrupted too soon, all their planning having to be done on the run while still trying to stay one step ahead of their pursuers.

Grief but being the prey is exhausting.

The answer then, would seem to be to turn the tables. S/he assumed s/he wasn't the first to have the thought, and that better-qualified tactical minds than hirs had already tackled the problem. S/he brushed hir hands off as s/he stood, waving Liam to the next rail to begin the process anew.

Taking out a tricorder for a broader scan before settling in with the finer engineering tools at their disposal, Nator glanced at Herrold again. "You know, it's hard to find someone around here who hasn't heard what happened in sickbay yesterday. The doctor being infested this whole time?" As ever, the man's face did not come to mind. "Ah, balls," s/he swore, noting that this assembly didn't just have microfractures but was warped wholesale along its entire length. "Might be worth forgetting some of our ethical principles in the name of the greater good," s/he finished, leaning down to align hir eye with the rail to get a better idea of the problem.

Hermat might be a little bloodthirstier than your average humanoid at the best of times, thanks to their closer relationship with their predatory ancestors... but almost every humanoid was a predator of some sort or other. Omnivorous teeth, forward-facing binocular vision, et cetera. Nator's species retained some natural weaponry and a fast metabolism for healing injuries, but were otherwise unremarkable among their galactic kin. If you cornered one for long enough, it was bound to bite back.

"Imagine if we could pry the thing out of him... though that sounds like the Devil's own job, given the repair orders I saw for the infirmary. Once we learn how they interface with our four little dimensions, we can start building one of those tools."

Nator tapped the side of the tricorder against the rail, starting a quiet and discordant ring in the alloy. "After we make it out of this damnable nebula, anyway."

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #11 – October 17, 2018, 10:32:15 AM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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Hearing Nator's suggestion, Liam knew that is made a lot of sense. Yet he'd also heard about the nature - as they knew it - of those parasites, and how the host body was still a host. A humanoid like themselves, and once fellow officers in the fleet. He cleared his throat, having moved along with Nator to the new area of repairs, and crouched down next to her, calibrating his tricorder to try and find a setting with showed more than his current one did.

"In that regard," he said quietly, frowning, "I am glad that I am just a NCO. I am not sure I could live with the decision of doing that to someone else. I mean, that Doctor of yours might have been Infested for years, but who was he before then? Can he be saved? Can Starfleet Command be saved from their current situation? Could that be the key to absolution for us? To have Starfleet Command become themselves again, and prevent the trials in store for us? Could they make an edict that saves this crew and the former Resolve officers from spending their last years in a Penal Colony?"

The other side of that argument was, of course, more grim.

"Then again, perhaps something needs to be done to one host, so that the other doctors might learn what to do with the rest of them? I see your point, but I..." he said, sighing, and climbed down farther, leaning past Nator so that his tricorder's field could reach the farthest part of the rail. "I don't know. I am not sure I could live with myself, killing someone - or worse - even if it might give us those clues. There. Front end of the rail, the fractures spread from there."

Climbing up again, Liam switched his tricorder for the repair tool and walked to the front of the rail, close to the launch hatch, and scratched the back of his neck. "But that's just me. I am sure there are those more capable than I to do what's best."

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 hrs. ] Reparations

Reply #12 – October 23, 2018, 11:02:05 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan 

Liam raised some good points regarding why they might not want to just start cutting away at the good doctor, and Nator did wonder if s/he had implied rather more than s/he meant to with hir last statement. Certainly, s/he would err on the side of non-invasive, non-destructive study first (and preferably always), but there was no real way to guarantee accurate results. Or at least, ones that weren't influenced by the parasite.

Which rather left the more unsavoury alternative of trying progressively more... involved methods of attempting extraction. Though even any eventual failure would be a lesson of its own.

S/he followed his guide to the end of the rail, digging in hir kit for a magneton clamp.

"There was, for a while on Hermat, the concept of a 'sin eater'," s/he said as s/he started to work on the rail. "Someone who would do things deemed necessary for the whole at personal cost... moral or otherwise. It fell away as our civilisation developed, but a lot of more modern sensibilities get dropped by a creature who has been cornered by something that threatens them." A pause. "Ultimately, all it would take is a few volunteers. It's not something a person should be forced into, I think."

The Hermat raised hir head to check how the rest of the team were managing; mostly fine, moving along the bay as they fixed the launchers. Not that ammunition for them was in particularly great supply. Still, it was something to be checked off the list, and so s/he was here.

"Regarding penal colonies... I was wondering the other day if some cell or house arrest or other might not be our best-case outcome. In pursuit of the truth - in defence of it - we have still killed many of our colleagues. And I'm sure, more than a few friends." Nator looked up at Liam, hir expression wry and rueful. "Sin eaters, see? Even if we didn't want it."

Nator flicked a piece of charred rubber trunking out from under the rail with one clawtip before continuing with the tool, muttering, "Just one more choice robbed from us by the parasites."

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #13 – October 28, 2018, 04:49:12 PM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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"Agreed," said Liam following Nator in her work, and offering the readings on his tricorder to show where there were still fractures from time to time - turning the display her way now and then. "We have been pushed into a role we'd rather not have, the choice thereof robbed from us, but as for the concept of these sin eaters."

Frowning, Liam wasn't sure how to say it, and he knew far to little. "I don't pretend to know anything about Hermats more than that they are an attractive species, intriguing and all that. Your culture is largely unknown to me, beyond your short life-spans compared to other species, and.... well... added with whatever you've told me back in the shipyards. But these sin eaters, that do the things others of your species wouldn't," he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck, not certain he was right, "wouldn't that make other Hermats complicit in what the sin eaters did? I mean, they weren't actively stopped from doing what was needed, right? Were they even told what to do? I am not sure I understand."

Talking about Hermat culture was something Liam had longed to do, not knowing half as much as he liked to, and it was certainly a less gloomy topic than the prospects of the mission ahead - dire as the situation had become with the execution of the Continuance Protocol.

Overall, Liam was happy to have met Nator again, after all those years, and even though the circumstances of their reunion could have been in more fortunate times, it was still a boon to have sorted things out a bit already. He wanted to say as much, how he enjoyed her company - perhaps not as much as Ji's, for obvious reasons - but he really did not want to cause a misunderstanding which would set them back to square one again.

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 hrs. ] Reparations

Reply #14 – November 04, 2018, 12:03:13 AM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

Nator cocked an amused eyebrow at Liam's 'attractive species' remark, though s/he wasn't sure he'd be able to see it from this angle. Certainly, and mostly in hir youth, s/he had come across attractive Hermats - even if not in the sexual sense - but that hardly precluded the possibility of ugly ones. There was a (mostly-subjective) spectrum, same as for any other humanoid species. Idly, s/he wondered if that wasn't old-Liam glinting through a little. And besides, the database contained all the information he might have cared to access... presuming he'd had time aboard the Resolve and wasn't too sore while still in Sol.

The magneton clamp chirruped a warning. "Straightening this thing back out properly is just going to make it brittle enough to snap under the next heavy manoeuvre. It'll have to come out," s/he said, rolling hir sleeves most of the way to the elbow before swapping the clamp for a pneumatic wrench to remove the deck fastenings from the rail. "Crewman!" s/he called to one of the other teams lowering a launcher back into place on the end of a portable AG crane. "We need a spare rail here."

"Aye aye," came the call.

S/he braced against the impulse of the wrench, and began pulling out the bolts. "The sin eaters were- ah, bastard," s/he swore as s/he slipped. Setting hir footing better, s/he continued, "- were usually taken from volunteers or selected by ballot, and only in times of emergency for a pack; a contagiously sick member who refused to leave, or a wounded one that slowed down the hunt, for example... a sin eater might be chosen to kill them despite their innocence." Nator glanced at Liam to see what he thought of hir so casual mention of sanctioned murder. "This was a long time ago, of course, before the packs conglomerated into clans, or city-states.

"Later, most cities' mustered soldiery would all be sworn as sin eaters by convention. Their names would be recorded on a scroll rather than a book - so that it could not easily be edited - so as to remind their communities what they had sent people to do. And to ensure none escaped. But it meant that most conflicts and wars between city-states were limited to their soldiers - their larger populations were of course 'innocent' of whatever their soldiers had done in pursuit of their orders."

The Hermat scooted to the next set of bolts, starting a small pile of them next to the rail so Liam could replace them with fresh ones. "The event that finally ended the practise... well." The next bolt protested somewhat, so s/he moved the wrench aside and twisted it out the remaining way by hand, the wiry muscles of hir forearm cording as hir grip tightened. "The city of, nh, Tidanj was waging an aggressive war against the surrounding states using child soldiers, none more than 2 years old." Without wondering how that might sound to a non-Hermat, s/he continued taking the bolts out of the deck. "There isn't much more ferocious than a Hermat youth - would you believe I have mellowed in my middle age?" s/he added with a somewhat self-deprecating smirk, "...So you can imagine their 'success'. But a child is obviously ineligible to become a sin eater, and the victims of this aggression formed an alliance. They - the sin eaters of this alliance - defeated the child army. The leaders of the aggrieved city-states demanded to see Tidanj's scroll... sorry, could you get this bolt out for me?"

Nator moved out of the way, indicating the stuck fastener. "On the scroll, they found only one name, rather than the ream of names of Tidanj's soldiers as they expected. The city had elected a single elderly sin eater to train these children, who didn't know any better, and used them as a weapon. But by convention, the crime lay with that person alone, rather than the city who had nominated him. The alliance decided that the entire city was culpable, convention be damned, and burned it to the ground. Collectively, they then abandoned the concept of sin eaters and sent emissaries to the other states to implore them to do the same. After that, they began the Old Continent's great experiment with democracy, also later abandoned... but that's a different history lesson."

S/he sighed. "Ultimately, it was only ever a faulty justification for what we wanted to do. The fact is that sometimes it is simply necessary to do morally-grey things for the right causes, and we all have to have the conviction to follow that through. As long as the ends may be successfully argued in balance of the means... right?"

It was perhaps the greatest number of words s/he had strung together since being taken out of stasis. Grief, I must have been starving. Lecturing Herrold about Hermat medieval history...

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #15 – November 05, 2018, 08:23:52 PM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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Watching Nator work at the bolts, his eyebrows climbed high when s/he spoke of the early duties of the sin eaters of hir people. Had s/he glanced towards him to gauge his reaction? Well, there was no hiding the perplexity at that point, the result of the culture clash quite evident in his stare. He was relieved, however, hearing that this was supposed to be in an early part of their history as a society.

Yet, it both got better and worst, since then their entire army were supposed to swear the same kind of oath as those sin eaters. It was... odd, how the sin eaters were also used as scapegoats of war, allowing the larger population to wash their hands from whatever atrocities were committed. He still took the cue to place fresh bolts where the old ones were, collecting them from not too far away. He pocketed the old ones for the time being, listening intently at the event s/he described next - momentarily distracted by the trouble s/he had with one of those rail bolts. Nator seemed as strong as he remembered hir before that point, wondering if the three years had come to affect heir in that regard. It was surely not something he'd ask about, however, applying the his own culture's taboos about asking pointed questions about age or weight. S/he might bespeak hirself as being middle-aged, but he surely wouldn't!

He was about to ask about the scroll s/he mentioned, when s/he asked him to try and loosen the bothersome bolt. He nodded and took hir place, shedding his jacket and hiking up his sleeves. He braced himself against the railing with his leg while he listened, and applied the force of his entire body on the turning motion. Nothing happened at the first try, so he shifted his grip, clenched his jaw shut, and heaved with both legs against the railing - trusting the tool to withstand the stress on its handle. While he did so, he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

A whole city? The sheer magnitude of one person's flaw becoming a collective punishment... He bared his teeth, making a third attempt at the bolt, thinking that the railing must hav-

It came loose, at last, and Liam ended up sitting a bit farther away, but the bolt was loose. Hands aching, he gave Nator a smile of brief contentment, before he moved to collect the bolt and stand up, giving hir back the space. What s/he spoke of was disconcerting to him, even if he did understand the necessity. It was just a personal issue, he knew, and he was quite happy to not be a Line Officer that had to live with something like that.

"While I do not follow orders blindly," he said and handed the tool back to hir, "I'm here to loosen bolts and fix things. Restocking fighters and making sure their cannons work. This is why the Academy didn't have the same kind of allure for me, knowing that I might end up with such morally grey decisions in my lap. As always, I am not quite sure I am cut out for living with the guilt. I sleep better with a clearer conscience."

Of course, the question at hand was still unanswered. He ran a calloused hand through his hair, frowning in thought. "Has anyone tried to just ask this Doctor about the nature of his ilk? I mean, the Host named Sonja Acreth was quite forthcoming in her own way. Perhaps there is more to learn if you officers try to piece together more from the hints he might reveal? This, without even having to hurt the Hosts?"

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 hrs. ] Reparations

Reply #16 – November 13, 2018, 08:05:34 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

A pair of crewmen manhandled the new rail alongside them, laying the solid duranium runner down parallel to the current one. Well, parallel-ish on account of the incumbent's deformation. "Shall we help you get it into place?" one asked. S/he racked hir brain for her name... predictably, it didn't come.

"No, Mister Herrold and I should manage. Thank you."

"Aye aye."

They moved off, and Nator went back to taking out bolts. S/he took a breath before responding to Liam's suggestions.

"Your point about conscience is fair enough, but loading those fighters enables them to perform their task - usually destruction, no? Nothing exists in a vacuum. Ultimately, it was that philosophical point that ended the sin eating practice on Hermat, more than even a million child soldiers would have. There can be no such abdication of responsibility, no hiding behind orders, when the consequences are so grave. There's even a Terran expression for it, though I forget what it is at the moment..." s/he paused, staring into space, before shrugging and returning to work. "Which is why it is so important to only be doing these things for the right reasons. At least our situation qualifies.

"As for the doctor... given how duplicitous they are, as well as us having no real idea of where the parasite starts and the host stops... I don't think there's any real way of trusting what he says. At any rate, I would of course prefer a method that didn't harm the hosts, but I am less choosy about the resultant state of the parasite in question.

"Frankly, fuck 'em."

The last bolt came free, and Nator shifted around to plant hir feet beyond the end of the rail, crouched right down with hir hands clasped under it. S/he jutted hir chin towards the other end to indicate Liam take the other end. A countdown, then they hefted it out of its groove to lie next to its old mounting. It rocked very slightly on its warped edge, almost slight enough to miss with the eye if you were too close.

Process in reverse to get the fresh rail in, then Nator sat back and wiped the back of one wrist across the hairline at the top of hir face. "Heavier than they look," s/he said.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 04 | 0800 ] Reparations

Reply #17 – November 22, 2018, 01:13:01 AM

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Starboard Launcher Assembly | Section 04 | Deck 10 | The Sword ] Attn: @Top Hat
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Perhaps Nator was right, that Liam was hiding behind his orders a bit in his reasoning, and how - in a way - that made him a sin eater too. It made him chuckle and shake his head a bit, finding it funny how the nature of one's own species could be reflected in others', and vice versa. It seemed that, to different extent, some issues were mirrored across the Galaxy in all evolving societies. Moral dilemmas transcending all distances.

"Yeah," he mused, moving to the task with the rail, "like you said. How do you harm just the parasite when we don't know which is which? I heard that Nicander was supposed to have led the research on these things too. No wonder the efforts did not bear fruit. If there was some way to reach just the host, perhaps he could offer a means to.... I dunno, calibrate a tricorder to see them?"

The rail had, indeed, been quite heavy, even when lifting it correctly with his back straight. Once the task was complete, he sat down next to Nator and looked in hir direction, checking his hands for cuts and scrapes.

"Between..." he started, but had to start over, his frown one of concern. "As daunting as the mission of the Theurgy might seem, I have merely been aboard for a few days. I... I wish I could somehow imbue the people around me with the hope that I feel, having been on the Resolve for so long, where we faced impossible odds at every turn. We barely even touched ground on Starbase 84 before our voyage continued, only on a new ship. Barely any pause for breath, mere hours back in the good graces of the Federation, before we had a target painted on our back by Captain Hawthorne. I know I might not represent all officers in Kendrick's old crew, but for me..."

Liam cleared his throat and ran a calloused hand through his blonde hair, turning to look at Nator. "This is just another day. Another foe. Another situation to handle. I feel... Well, I think I feel more hope now, with a larger crew, more resources, and newer tech. A shame we had to split the ship up to escape the Savi, of course, but there is a plan, and there is direction. I'm not sure how to explain it, but... Call me naive, but somehow, I have faith in that we'll make it through this. That there is still some kind of justice to be found out there. Justice for the for righteous."

- FIN