Family History

Posted on Tue Jul 4th, 2017 @ 8:41pm by Captain Enalia Telvan & Aewia Larani & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi

Mission: Death is in the Details
Location: Main Hangar Bay
Timeline: After "Supply Philosophy"

After the incident with her demon counterpart, Enalia had had hanger bay 3 locked down and secured in more ways than even Nexi could have gotten around until she could get the Wandering star transferred to the main hanger bay for repairs and explain the situation to Nexi in person. Thankfully, her duties as a Staff Warrant Officer had kept her busy after her away mission so it hadn't come up yet.

Yet.

Enalia and Aewia were now standing outside the twisted remains of the entry hatch to Nexi's ship. Once they had started ship repairs, Enalia had had it towed around and berthed next to the Selune in a maintenance bay, right next to the industrial replicator, and judging by the mess inside, the repair teams will be making heavy use of it. She only saw a few consoles still intact from her brief inspection of the interior.

Aewia was close to tears - she knew what this ship meant to her sister, but she also knew that she had to be strong. Strong like her sister had been for her all this time. Nodding to Enalia, she steeled herself for what was to come.

Sighing heavily, Enalia tapped her comm badge. "Staff Warrant Officer Nexi, please report to the main shuttlebay, maintenance platform one."

Nexi was delayed on her arrival, having to stop by one of the labs to drop off her knives for analysis of the strange black blood coating them. Still green and in her Orion garb, she made her way down to the maintenance platform of the shuttle bay. She hadn't expected to see the Wandering Star here, and she stopped in her tracks when she saw the damage to the hatch.

"What.... what is this?" Nexi said, her eyes wide and her chest visibly rising with each measured breath as she tried to remain calm.

"There was an incident..." Enalia began as she motioned towards the twisted durasteel. "My demonic counterpart decided to try to use your ship and couldn't read Ferengi..."

"I'm so sorry..." Aewia said as she reached out and gingerly touched her fingertips to Nexi's shoulder.

Nexi shrugged away from Aewia's touch, raising a hand as a barrier to keep the two women at bay as she stepped closer to her beloved shuttle. She peered inside the shuttle and her breath quickened as she saw more damage. "How could you let this happen?" Nexi said in a cold tone, turning her accusing glare on Enalia.

Enalia took that glare as professionally and calmly as any Captain would when delivering bad news. "I'm sorry. We thought we had her contained. She destroyed part of main engineering, nearly crippling the Hera, then came here to try to escape. I assume when she couldn't figure out the controls, she threw a fit and used the transporter. Then she made the spaceport look like Praxis. If you want further information on her abilities... You'll have to wait for a debriefing from your section chief."

"You thought?!" Nexi yelled back. "I- you..." she said in a graveled tone, pointing a finger at Enalia. Her breath was heavy and the air around her sparked and hummed as she breathed heavily through her nose, trying her best not to lose it, but... The Wandering Star had been a part of her, it was her haven, and she was taking this violation as personally as if this demon had maimed her personally. She came around to the side where she could get a better view of the cockpit, and what she saw broke her. Consoles were torn apart, there was debris everywhere, and to make matters worse there were Officer aboard, strangers violating her haven, attempting to start repairs! Her beloved Star, how could they?!

Nexi staggered back, her hands trembling as she released a scream that echoed from the depths of her very soul. There was a cart nearby with tools and parts for repairs, and it was tossed aside as she continued to cry out. Without realizing it, she picked something up, possibly a conduit, but she couldn't with any coherency recognize anything in this moment, and she swung it at the hull of her ship. The reverberating pounding and the inhumans sounds coming from Nexi had the Officers inside terrified, and they exited the shuttle as fast as they could for fear that she was about to come in after them.

Enalia stood there without flinching, her hands clasped behind her back as Aewia narrowly ducked the power conduit Nexi had chucked at the Star. Aewia was still going in to try and comfort her sister - she knew she needed to get out her frustration, but she also knew this wasn't the healthiest time for it and whether Nexi wanted it or not, Aewia pulled her into a hug and refused to let her go using strength she didn't even know she had. "Nexi... Sis... It'll be ok. The Wandering Star has seen worse and she'll be as good as new before you know it. We have the best engineers in the galaxy. It'll be ok. It'll be ok."

"Crewman Sanders..." Enalia called out to the lead engineer. "Please excuse Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's actions and resume your work. As soon as you have an estimate on repair time, please report it to both myself and her." Nodding and eyeing Nexi cautiously, the repair crew followed their leader back into the craft.

Nexi tried once again to pull away from Aewia, but the effort was only halfhearted, resulting in Nexi dropping the conduit and putting her arms around her sister. Then, something rather unexpected happened; as Nexi slumped to her knees, bringing Aewia down to the ground with her, she began to sob. It was a wholly unfamiliar feeling, crying, she hadn't shed tears like this in so long she had forgotten what it was like. She could hear Aewia talking, uttering gentle words of comfort, but Nexi was so far gone she couldn't understand the individual words, but the tone and her sister's enduring calm was reaching her.

"She's hurting! Can't you feel it?" Nexi sobbed into her sister's shoulder. Nexi held tight to Aewia, almost fearful that if she let go then Aewia would be gone and she would be alone with this aching emptiness. "They hurt her, they hurt my Star! I can hear her crying, it hurts!" The Wandering Star had been far more to Nexi than just a ship, a haven, a home; if there was anything in this universe that Nexi had loved as much as Aewia, it had been the Star, a constant companion in her life that she had shared countless adventures with, so close were they that the Star was a part of Nexi's identity.

Aewia nodded and hugged her sister to her tighter. "And that's why she's getting the best care. Enalia understands. They hurt the Hera as well but she's down here with me to make sure you and the Star will be ok. And everything will be ok. You'll see. Crewman Sanders... He and his team are working on building a new runabout from the ground up. You can trust them."

Enalia's brow quirked upwards at that news. Was that something Aewia had picked up from the crewman in his stray thoughts? Crewman Sanders was also a bit startled as he was just stepping out of the Star with a PaDD. "Ah... The repairs... Once main power is back online and we can start replicating new Ferengi panels, I think we can have most of the repairs done within three hours. Thankfully, most of the damage seems to be just to the control surfaces and the main boarding ramp. We have a spare for the ramp available, but it's of a harder duratanium poly-alloy if that's ok."

Enalia waited a moment before replying. "If it's an upgrade and available now, then please begin prep work for installation. Also, please forward data on this runabout you and your team are working on to my office. Projects like that need to be cleared through proper channels."

"Yes, ma'am," Crewman Sanders replied before returning to the inside of the Star.

Nexi continued crying until she had nothing left, leaving her limp in Aewia's arms. She was largely unaware of Enalia or the work crews, in this moment it was just Nexi, Aewia, and the Star, like one mind. "She dead, right? The bitch that did this to my Star, she's dead?" she asked in a soul-weary tone.

Aewia looked back at Enalia for confirmation and Enalia gave it to her. "She's less than stardust now. There's no way she could be more dead."

Aewia kept Nexi in that tight embrace. She stayed strong for her sister. "She's gone. There's not even a particle of her left. She's been returned to whatever evil she was spawned from. It's ok now."

"Death is too good for the likes of her," Nexi murmured, then slowly started to pull away just enough to wipe her eyes. She saw the dents she put in Star's hull and the cart of ship parts scattered around, then she looked at Enalia. "Sorry," she said simply. She didn't apologize often, but her reaction did warrant an apology this time.

"It's part of grief, so it's understandable," Enalia replied softly. "My ship and crew desperately need your help, if you feel up to it."

"Yeah, I need a minute, though," Nexi admitted. It felt like everything was spinning, she couldn't even move her legs, they felt like jelly, and it felt like her heart was trying to jump out of her chest. She took a moment to calm her breathing, and with Aewia's help managed to get to her feet. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she was trying her best to pretend they weren't as she looked to Enalia. "Alright boss, what you need me to do?" she asked, trying to use this task to give her focus and distract her from the Wandering Star.

Bringing a PaDD out from behind her back, Enalia offered it to Nexi. "Thanks to that demon, we no longer have the resources to get back to our time. A few tons of deuterium, some antimatter, and some warp plasma should do it. Trill Prime isn't far away so as soon as you get cleaned up I'd like you and Aewia to take the Selune there and acquire a contract from my great grandmother's mining operation to have it delivered. Offer her first account sensor readings and salvage rights to the planet that just blew up. While you're at it, take care of that other business, if you haven't already."

"Yeah," Nexi said numbly, taking the PaDD to look over. "This shouldn't be too hard to do, but... if it's alright with you, I'd rather not take Aewia. I'll need native currency for that other things, meaning I gotta get it somehow, and I don't like Aewia being around me when I'm... working, I don't want her seeing that side of me. Honestly, I can do this alone, but if you insist, then assign someone else."

"You need family with you now more than ever. As for local currency..." Reaching into her pocket, Enalia pulled out a few old Trill coins that looked like they were from an early industrial era, yet were in mint condition, being in plastic cases. "This should work. Each one should be worth a fair bit to a money changer."

"Lemme guess, gotta arrange for these to come into your possession as well..." Nexi remarked as she took the cases and looked at the coins. Not that such a task was all that difficult, but saying it aloud would help her to remember it later. "Do I have enough time to get in a shower and change my clothes or do I need to leave now?"

"Actually, they're in my great grandmother's collection already. I might try to track them down when we get back, but that can wait." Enalia replied with a hint of a grin. "As for a shower and a warm meal, showers are working but replicators are offline. Galley is serving hot meals from real food though. Anyway, take what time you need and stop by sickbay to get your cosmetics reversed as well, if you want. They should be a bit less busy now."

"That sounds like a good idea," Nexi replied with a grin. The green skin she didn't mind so much, but her nose itched, she missed the ridges. With the PaDD in hand, she put an arm around Aewia's shoulder. "C'mon kiddo, let's go," she said, trying to sound like her usual grumpy self, but her voice was still cracking from her earlier crying.

Enalia finally relaxed and let out a sigh. That went better than she had hoped. "Crewman Sanders, treat this ship as if she were your sister, ok?" Getting an awkward nod from the crewman, Enalia retreated to the nearest turbolift. She had a ship that needed her and explanations that needed to be made.