Unbroken

Posted on Fri May 17th, 2019 @ 11:11pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Captain Enalia Telvan

Mission: Fractured Fairy Tales
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: 2396, Two days after the assassination attempt on Lt. Dox.

After a full day of bed rest and another full day back on duty, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox was fit to burst to see exactly how badly she had been hurt in the assassination attempt of two days prior that left Ensign Raphael Paulson dead and her with two broken legs and more.

Broken bones were easily fixed and Doctor Asa Dael was the best CMO in the fleet as far as the Red-headed Romulan pilot was concerned, and she needed to know if there were any lingering effects from her injuries. She still felt stiffness in her joints when she got up and a lingering soreness that Asa said would last a week or so.

But Dox didn't have a week as the Hera would be pulling into the Artan Family Orbital Fortress in the Kabul system for Captain Enalia Telvan's tribunal to challenge her mother for control of the pirate family. A family Dox had been inducted in as a Baroness to help sway votes in the Captain's favor. And it was an assignment that would very likely require the young pilot to fight with both swords and fists and she needed to know if she still could.

So, without telling Asa or her bond-mate Mona Gonadie, Dox stood in the center of the holodeck on a set of teal pads looking at a humanoid, holographic representation of her old rubber covered pink practice dummy. But this recreation could move and had legs. Her twin Caitian blades had been confiscated temporarily during the investigation into the assassination attempt. So, for now, she would simply test her hand-to-hand skills.

“Computer…” she spoke to the room, “Please begin Dox hand-to-hand sparring program. Level 4, thank you.”

With a chirrup, the computer replied with its unusually usual civility. =^=Yes, Lieutenant Dox. You're welcome.=^=

Without warning, the simulation began its attack with a flurry of hits that Dox was able to block quite effectively. So far, the stiffness didn’t seem to be slowing her down and she was pushing through it to keep up her defense. But it didn’t stop her mind from running on full volume in the background.

Ultimately, the angry pilot understood why she wasn’t permitted to become involved in any way with the investigation into Paulson’s murder because it was a part of the attempted murder on her. She couldn’t be involved. She couldn’t be told the name of the suspect. She couldn’t have gone with von Alcott or Jablonski to bring whoever it was in for questioning.

She couldn’t do anything and that lack of activity was driving her crazy as it spiraled in her mind. She trusted Rita’s decision and she knew that those handling the situation were far more qualified than she was, but it was still extremely frustrating to be sidelined.

As she began to get lost in thought, the dummy got a punch through her defense, striking her as hard as the holodeck would allow in the ribs that had been cracked just two days ago. With an uncharacteristically loud yell, Dox let out a shriek of panic as she stepped back, away from the attack to give herself some breathing room.

The impact point was sore, but her ribs were fine. The bones were healed by Doctor Dael expertly, but it was her moment of panic that bothered her. But she had no time to dwell as the dummy shifted its tactic to a series of sharp, quick kicks.

Blocking the first two, Dox was forced to leap back to avoid the last strike and landed hard on her left leg. As she did, she felt a quick spasm from that calf that shot up her leg and her knee wobbled and gave out. Rolling back as the dummy pressed its attack, she fell hard to the matt and clutched the knee that had been shattered when the assassin droid commandeered a work bee shuttle and rammed her with it in the flight deck. There was a slight tingle from what was nothing more than a momentary cramp that she had to ignore to avoid a series of stomping attacks from the dummy.

“Hhakh Kreldanni…” Dox muttered, insulting herself in her native Rihan as she tried to switch from defense to offense. She was sore, but she was unhurt and she knew if she kept reacting as if every hit was going to re-break her bones, she was going to lose and be even more useless in the tribunal than she already felt.

Rolling inside the leg span of the dummy, Dox let its stomp rn down her back as she launched herself up with a stiff forearm to the inside thigh of her attacker, her own momentum and force lifting the dummy off its feet as she slammed it into the mat hard.

Wasting no time, she scrambled to a kneeling positing and struck first for a neck blow, which the dummy on it’s back deflected. It was a sloppy, anger-influenced move that left her ribs open again for an attack, and the dummy pressed the issue jabbing her stiffly again.

As the air was forced out of her, Dox rolled back off the dummy and scrambled to her feet, favoring her side a bit more which was getting progressively stiffer. “Hnaev… I am NOT losing to a goddamn hologram.

But the hologram didn’t react as if it heard or cared as it rolled back up to its feet and stood in a ready stance. Looking at the dummy and watching it bob back and forth on its feet, Dox’s eyes narrowed. It was acting like a living opponent. Every strike it had landed was against an area that had been injured as if it knew her weak spots. But that wasn’t anything in the program so she wondered if she was imagining things as it dropped to the mat to try and sweep her right ankle. The Ankle that had been broken as well two nights ago.

Dox slid back out of the way, being careful to not put pressure back on the calk that cramped as the Dummy spun back up and tried to turn the momentum of it’s spin into a kick to her bruised ribs. But this time, Dox stepped back into its arc, catching its leg and sweeping its other leg out from under it. And as it’s weight pulled it down, the angry Romulan held tight to the other leg and twisted in the opposite direction. There was a loud buzzing sound, an indication that if that had been a living opponent, then she would have just broken its knee.

But she didn’t pause to linger on the leg. The opponent was programmed to react as if it experienced pain and it curled up on the matt as she released the leg and dropped her own knee down hard on its midsection. There was another buzzing indicating that ribs would have been broken. As she lingered over the figure she held her fist angrily up, trembling with barely contained rage. She wanted this to be the monster that got Paulson killed. She wanted it to be anything that could help her feel less useless at the tribunal neared.

“Computer, end program.” She muttered as the dummy shimmered out of existence.

Kneeling on the floor of the holodeck, Dox took several long breaths, calming herself down. Physically, she was fine. Stiff and sore but ultimately fine. But the exercise showed her that where she wasn’t fine was in her head. She didn't trust herself at first. He hesitated and panicked until the dummy forced her to push past her self-doubt. She might be crazy, but she wondered as she knelt there if the computer knew where she was injured as the dummy seemed to go after those spots almost intentionally. Something that shouldn’t have been possible.

At least with a computer that wasn’t sentient.

Standing up, she thought about it for a moment as she stretched out a little and tested her theory. “Thanks. I needed that.” She spoke to the room.

A soft purring sound could be heard right before a comm terminal shimmered into view right in the middle of the holodeck and the computer made an announcement. =^=A time delayed message for you has been triggered. Will you accept it?=^=

"Time delayed..." Dox repeated at a whisper as she stepped towards the terminal. Immediately, her stomach tightened slightly into a knot. "C... computer... I accept the message."

Immediately, the image of the android Kodria Mizu popped up on the holographic screen, smiling as cheerfully as if it was yesterday. "Hey! If you're getting this, then Maru sensed that all the conditions were met and it was time for this message to be delivered. Which means that by now you should have your DNA fixed, you should know who your father really is, your mother is aboard... And you should be about to face the Tribunal, having just survived an assassination attempt." The young android counted off the conditions on her fingers as she rattled them off.

"If any of the details are a bit off... Well, the timeline may have shifted a bit. But..." Here she got serious and leaned in towards the camera. "There are three things you need to know. One is that you need to cherish the time you have with your mother. You only have one, young lady, so treat her well while you have her. That's what you always told me, after all. Two is that that the Saurian brandy is poisoned. Three is that the evidence is where you least expect to find it."

Relaxing again, the child-like android leaned back and smiled brightly again. "Other than that, I hope you're doing well. I can't wait to wake up and see you and everyone else again. I know that you and Aunt Rita will get through this and I really hope grandma does too." She then reached up and hit a button, the message cutting off.

As the message ended, Dox had tears running down her cheeks. It had been months since she and the rest of the crew had said goodbye to Kodria and she found that she still missed her terribly. Standing in he room, she was smiling for a moment thinking about Kodria and what she represented.

Then she began thinking about what Kodria's message meant. At first, her thoughts lingered on her mother. Kodira's words echoed another statement made months ago by the woman once called Masato Rei. The embodiment of Death herself counciled Dox as well with a cryptic warning of almost the exact same words. She had been trying to not think about the implications of that but not she knew she had to do her best.

The second statement was blunt and specific. No real amiguity. No Saurian Brandy for anyone during this tribunal . That was simple enough.

But that third statement was a clue. "What does that mean, Kodria? 'The evidence is where I least expect to find it'?" Dox muttered to herself as she stood in the middle of the holodeck. Captain Telvan's mother had been behind the assassination attempt to silence Dox's vote in the tribunal. She had bugged the cybernetics of Baroness Sarika to try and spy on the ship. And she corrupted the swordfighting training program in attempt to kill Baroness von Alcott in this very holodeck.

"This holodeck..." Dox muttered to herself as she remembered the corrupted program where she and the members of the crew that were going to be involved in the tribunal fought for their lives on a replica of the Pirate Queen's own starship. An exact replica.

As her mind raced, her eyes bulged slightly. "Where we least... right in front of our eyes... Hnaev." Dox cursed as a thought came to her.

Quickly, she ran over to the corner of the room where her uniform was folded up on the floor and picked it up to grab her comm badge. Giving it a tap, it made it's telltale chirp.

"Lieutenant Dox to Commander Paris. Commander... can you come to Holodeck 2... I think it's important." As she spoke, a slight smile crossed Dox's face as her mind raced, not with doubts or anxiety, but with a renewed hope.