Star Trek: Starbase 777 - submarine-transport

And sus was the first on on the sub and he was soaking wet.

1

Rai was soon to follow, he was dry, but his face was wet with tears still.

Iviaan was also dry. "I cannot say I have ever been in a submarine before." He inclined his head, switching his TTS to TTTTS (telepathy to text to speech), just to make it a bit easier.

3

Marching in right into the submarine, not really paying attention to anything else, Essen kept on moving, full of energy! "We hear he is a whiz of whiz if ever a whiz there was! If ever oh ever a whiz there was, the Wizard of -- the Moneans -- is one because, because, becuase, because, because, becaaaauuuussseee... Because of the wonderful things he does!" She sang quietly, mostly to herself, before she turned to Rai. "Hey Riov, how are you holding on?"

"I should have stayed back with the Eventide, but I know I would just be sadder to see her like that..." Rai said with a heavy sigh.

Essen nodded understandingly to Rai. "Maybe so, sir. The more we are able to do to finish the mission, the closer we'll be to rebuilding her! You have something to look forward to!"

Saith entered in a damp, less skippy-and-happy manner, expression as grim as the situation allowed for. Three hundred people missing... He couldn't even envision three hundred people.

As Mira entered she caught the tail end of Essen's words. "Correct, Riov," Mira said. "You shall have a brand new ship upon the conclusion of this. It incentivizes your work in this mission so that you have an achievable goal."

"My engineers are honourable, they will do their best to patch her up," Suss said with a reassuring smile.

1

"I think it's perfectly reasonable that the Riov is still upset," Saith piped up, fiddling with the end of his uniform. His shoulders were wet because of his hair. Gross. "It's.. you know, who knows how long they were serving together. You're allowed to grieve, sir, even with the promise of repair."

"Awwwee Riov..." Maya softly said as she stood by Rai. "I would also want to stay with the Eventide, but I don't think she would want us to mope around after bringing us this far... or this deep?"

They entered the submarine. It was actually a pretty familiar environment. They'd been on several before. "Many cultures believe objects have souls. It is a universal experience to mourn one's attachments."

3

D'ez sat at the the controls of the sub. They were an expert in submersibles after all.

Okay, he was back. Sort of. The helmsman sighed, rubbing his face with his hand, trying to block out all of the sounds currently happening in the submarine, because he really didn't want to get annoyed with people right now. "I share the sentiment Captain," he commented, short and concise, with a rare sort of flatness in his voice.

3

"Cadet," came a quiet greeting to Saith's side. Saren was there, giving him a gentle nod before focusing his gaze on the entrance: "Let's stay sharp and attentive. Three hundred people missing is not to be treated lightly, and we should do everything we can to help them. Performing at our best."

Vara was hanging from the top of the sun with a hum. “I mean hey, the ship was a cool ride, so I get it!”

"Thank you all for your kind words," Rai said, addressing everyone who had been so comforting towards him. "I know you know," He glanced at Sy, one of the two helmsman who had come along. Sy, if anyone, would know very deeply what this loss meant to him as helmsman also often bonded with their crafts.

1

Mira stood to Rai's side, looking to him. "And we will do what we can do support you in this journey, Riov," Mira said. "You may always tell us what we may do to support you in this difficult time."

Chris grabbed his little spray bottle and sprayed himself, accidentally spraying Vara too.

Ohshit— "Hi," Saith answered, reaching up once again to wipe water dripping into his face. "Hey, are you- is he- are you guys okay?" He cast a worried glance to Syrax, who looked about two seconds from melting into a puddle on the ground. He didn't know Sy as well, but he was worried..

“Aieee!” Vara said as the spray knocked her to the ground from her perch in the sub. “Owwwww, I’m okay.”

Essen snickered at Vara's comical moment. "You okay there Vara?"

Chris was shocked by the noise of Vara falling and sprayed her a few more times

4

"I have water guns," D'ez ifted the side of their long... dress? They were packing heat. They had a super soaker strapped to their leg.

Essen chuckled. "I like water guns. They're fun and harmless! Makes for good target practice!"

“Owwwww, can you stop doing that Lieutenant?” She said, before performing a kip up to get back to her feet.

Rai covered his ears and sank down in one of the seats.

6

"I would like to be sprayed," they asked politely.

Unlike Thalass, he had never been on a submarine before and was actually feeling a little claustrophobic. "I... would not."

Mira stayed close to Rai. "All, let's keep the noise level down a little, please?" As she looked to Rai. (edited)

D'ez unstrapped their water gun and sprayed Vara. "Stop with the loud noises."

Another shoulder pat for the Riov. How people could make light in a situation like this was truly beyond him. People were missing. Eventide was crashed. Really..

2

"Sure!" Chris sprayed some mist on Thhalass.

Rai mumbled softly. "What will I tell the Republic? I was a pioneer, a Republic exchange officer serving as a captain of a Starfleet ship.... D'Tan personally congratulated me in a letter even...."

Looking to Mira, Essen nodded. "Aye, sir," Essen said in a much softer voice, and moved towards her and Rai.

Okay. He had enough. "Ensign Zh'rahlor," Saren's voice carried a note of subtle steel. He hated the idea of pulling rank, but if he kept being tested like this... "How about you be on your best behavior for this mission, lest you want to have another talk with your superiors?" The scientist pulled back, just a little, facial expression bordering on frowning as he gave the room a Look: "And this applies to every Starfleet officer on this submarine."

3

2

"That the gravity of the planet pulled you downward, and you did everything you could to save it and your crew." Iviaan waved Essen away. "Please do not crowd the captain, Lieutenant. Let's give everyone a chance to breathe." (edited)

“Yeah yeah sure man.” She said to Saren, before taking a seat on the sub.

Dezyim slipped in and wedged himself at the back. He tried to make himself look like a potted plant, a background object, so he could get a good idea of what was going on. He watched the conversation passively for a moment before taking the closest seat.

They enjoyed being misted. They truly had the spirit of a shiitake mushroom. "Thank you. Very refreshing."

He sighed, releasing a little stress. "Have you ever been in a submarine before, Saren?" He was a biologist, so it was possible, right?

"That's junior Assistant Chief of Science to you, ensign," and now it wasn't so subtle, like a dog's warning rumble. "Your eagerness to be chewed out by Lieutenant Commander Kestrel for the nth time has been dutifully noted." His expression immediately softened as his gaze shifted to Eshen: "I have not, no. Unfortunately. Always wanted to, though, so... I guess I can cross that out of my bucket list now?"

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6

"Ensign, why don't you come on over this way?" Mira said to Vara softly, stepping away from Rai. "Maybe we can work on this together."

He smiled a little. "Silver lining of the mission, I suppose. For me, it's strange - even though the environment isn't too dissimilar from the enclosed environment of a space station, for some reason I feel a little more trapped here." (edited)

She raised an eyebrow to Mira. “You sound like a cult leader.” She said before turning to Saren. “Understood.”

"Ensign." Jena replied sternly as she took turned sharply towards Vara's direction.

Mira made a note of that comment. "Alright," Mira said softly. "Why did you think you needed to say that? That I'm a cult leader."

"For some, the kindness of others is unfamiliar enough to warrant suspicion." Had they been eavesdropping on Vara's therapy sessions or what?

"Perhaps it's the pressure and size," he nodded, briefly looking up at the ceiling, before looking at Eshen again. "If it feels too uncomfortable, you can tell me and we will talk about something else. Like the chaunacops fish. Have you ever seen a chaunacops?"

"I don't remember... What does it look like?" It looks like this: —> D:

4

Seeing that the chewing out by Saren was over, she sat quietly and ignored Mira. The Ops head wasn’t her therapist, she didn’t even have one! She pulled out her padd and started typing ‘yes sir’ over and over.

7

"It's small, round, with tiny beady eyes and a perpetual frown on it's face, and it uses it's fins to stand on the sand and rocks at the bottom of the sea," he described. "There are a lot of photos of it squatting between rocks."

1

Now Mira was losing her patience. This was time for her to step in as a senior officer. "I expect an apology, Ensign," Mira said. "I expect you to give me the same courtesy as you do all senior staff and higher ranking officers. Ignoring me will not accomplish that." (edited)

She looked up towards Mira and stoped herself from sighing, snarking or anything else. “I’m sorry, sir.” She said, before returning to the padd.

Saith scooted away from the mess, moving a bit closer to Syrax - still giving him space, of course but... "Are you doing alright?" he asked quietly. The loss of Eventide was brutal, but he hadn't been with her as long as Syrax, or Rai.

"Sounds delightful. I think I might have seen one at the aquarium?" Eshen said.

"No, we don't. We're currently working on tanks that could provide enough pressure for a deep sea fish like that, but they're not so easy to implement in an aquarium setting." Also, there was little point. Deep sea fish didn't really like being anywhere but the deep sea and there was little reason to remove them from their habitat except for conservation purposes. Even then, it wasn't like anyone was going down there and hunting them for sport. You'd get crushed like a coke can. "We do, however, have a picture."

"A picture! Yes, I must have seen that. But why do they stand on the sand? They can swim, right?" Too lazy. Can't be bothered.

The helmsman was watching the transpiring events with a bored expression before being addressed by the cadet. He turned his head to look at Saith, and offered him a small smile: "In a bit of a disbelief that this has happened, but I'll be okay," he always was. "How about you? Hope the whole thing didn't spook you too bad?"

"Ambush predators who hunt between crevices, I think?" he angled his head a bit. "They're not well studied. Little weirdos. Cute, though."

"Oh, I've been through worse," he said, having a seat nearby, running his fingers through his still-damp hair. "The last time I went on an away mission I got launched by an evil computer program, so. Y'know." He pulled his knees to his chest. "I mean- you're allowed to be sad, you know? It's gotta suck. And I get it if you're.. it's okay if you're not okay. Right now. Or anytime in the future, I guess."

Mira nodded her head at Vara. "Apology accepted, ensign, thank you," Mira said. "Now, as Junior Assistant Chief of Science Lieutenant tr'Lareth said, you are expected to adhere to this behavior in the duration of this whole mission. Heed this warning: if you deviate from this improved behavior once more, we will award you the proper disciplinary actions." Her voice sounded MUCH different now. Still soft, but no longer soothing. It was stern, a hidden authority which Mira kept for specific occasions such as this. (edited)

Essen's eyes POPPED open upon hearing Mira's change in the tone of her voice. Frozen solid for a second, Essen looked at Mira with her jaw on the ground. Hooooly hell. Okay, she'd stay on Mira's good side from now on.

Stepping back to Essen, Mira turned to her. "Are you alright, Essen?" Mira asked her. "I did not mean to scare you. My duties as COO simply mandate the necessity for disciplinary action when warranted."

"Y-yeah, I-I mean..." Essen began. "I wasn't scared, that was... That was badass." (edited)

With a chuckle she flipped her hair at hearing that was badass. "I only go there when I have to," Mira said.

Jena didn't feel there was much more to add on top to what was already said by Mira and Saren, though she did like noticing that change in the OPS Chief's temperament and tone. "Anyways.. now that's over with, and hopefully stays that way, we can focus on the task at hand."

"Focusing as much as we can while we're on our descent, sir. We can't do anything at this moment without proper information — information we'll receive when we're at the place in question, I imagine." Iviaan agreed, nodding so his antennae bounced.

"I agree," Mira said, gravitating towards Jena. Her voice returned to its soothing timbre. "Correct, Lieutenant," She said to Iviaan. "Our options, with the lack of additional information, are limited. We only have what we know currently." (edited)

"Ah, a fearsome predator. Like me!" He'd have to look it up when he got out. He was probably imagining something a little more intimidating than the little round grumpy fish it really was. To be fair, it was probably quite fearsome to its prey!

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2

"Why are you calling her a horrid ass?" Badass was not translating correctly.

3

2

"Oh nononono! Badass is a compliment! It means tough, uncompromising, cool, awesome!" Essen explained.

"It's one that's thrown around a bit too much from Lieutenant Essen," Ivi chimed in, lighthearted.

2

"I see... Just like the chaunacops." Very beautiful, very powerful.

"Heh, yeah, I use badass a little too much. It's never a derogatory term though, it's always positive," Essen said. "Uhhh... Yeah! Just like the chaunacops! Sure!"

Having quietly watched all of this go down, Maya could only come up with one other thing to quietly say about the people both her bestie and her cousin work under now. "Respect." Maya simply nodded and continued subtly playing the Club Penguin fishing game on her PADD.

1

Curiously, Mira scooted over to Maya. "Club... Penguin?" Mira asked. "I am curious as to what this program is, lieutenant."

Having been around this whole time yes definitely, Vara'l had settled into one of the seats and, as he overheard the talk about club penguin along with the other chatter, he huffed softly. Huffed then idly lowered his head into his hands still pained at the fact he'd been on another ship that had been destroyed. At least the crew had gotten off this one and hadn't been...assimilated.

2

Essen scooted over to Vara'l. "Hey sir, you've been a little quiet," Essen said softly. "How are you hanging in there?"

"Oh! Uhhhh!" Shit. Maya tried to hide the PADD from Mira like a student caught in class... but she was way beyond that point now. "It's a uhh... chatroom game with penguins and fish. You like, waddle around and talk to people, put on lil costumes, play mini games, and stuff" Somehow explaining what a children's game is to your boss is much harder than spouting about shield mechanics and watergun prototypes.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant." He half lied then before he looked over to the Captain briefly, concerned. Looked over to them and then looked back to the Lieutenant. Never mind how he happened to feel, that could be bottled up for later and addressed somewhere discrete on a holodeck or something, he was the ACTO. Emotion was irrelevant when ones ship had just crashed into a Ocean and likely even now transmitted a emergency beacon, if that had survived and managed to emanate out from wherever said beacon had ended up. Emotion was irrelevant when there happened to be a job to do. "I'll survive..." He huffed softly before he then added. "Thank you for your concern though, Lieutenant."

Essen nodded and listened to Vara'l, even if what he said out loud was brief, she could tell just by his face that something else was going on beneath the surface. "Of course, sir, you're not alone in this, no one is. I'm here for you."

Seiyya sat by Vara’l, generally quiet and rather stoic. She was more of the silent emotional support type, because generally she was rather awkward when she actually spoke, and no one needed that right now. But, she did want to be here for her fellow officers.

Mira looked, in curiosity, and understood what Maya was doing. "A game," Mira said. "We are fortunate to be in a spot where we are waiting for further information. For now, lieutenant, please refrain from that game. After the mission is over and we have returned safely, however, I would like you to teach me to play it. I admire your willingness to indulge in your curiosity and fun, but this is not the time nor the place, aye?" Mira did want to incentivize it just a little. (edited)

"Yes. A game," Maya confirmed. it was indeed a game. "Of course. Aye, sir." She promptly said as she closed the game. A reprimand over Club Penguin wasn't worth it.

"Thank you, lieutenant," Mira said. "In fact... Lieutenant... What is your name? I am interested if you are able to provide any insight as to possible mission strategies with the limited information we have available. If not it is alright. We have yet to receive more." With the fact she made Maya close her game, she still wanted to connect with Maya and build rapport.

Yoro’clis walked into the submarine and made his way towards the closest thing to a back corner. He has not made it to the proper briefing, but had read up on the situation. The Elder was excited for the prospect of combat, now it was simply a matter of waiting.

1

Vara'l nodded a bit at the security lieutenant as they sat by him part a gesture offered in greeting and partly something done in a way that acknowledged their presence. He then looked back to Essen and proceeded to speak some more. "Thank you, your words mean alot and are appreciated." He responded even as he mentally walled off what he might be feeling and worked to push it away for later. Worked to push it away so it could be addressed at a better time than this.

1

"Umali, sir. Lieutenant Maya Umali." Maya introduced herself to Mira with a nod and a light smile, being quite open to people anyway. "To be honest, I kind of feel looking into the refinery is a good first step and just being cooperative with the Moneans is the best thing we could do for now. " Maya said with a shrug. "I mean, I've been to Energy Refineries before, they're just about as exciting as installing turbolifts. Even if it probably isn't worth investigating, there isn't much point at being defensive over it unless they found a superior alternative to dilithium and wanted to keep it secret... that's my two cents about it anyway."

Nodding, and taking a mental note of what Maya said, Mira gave her an understanding smile. "Your logic is sound, lieutenant Umali, thank you. I agree with your suggestion. We shall keep that as a possibility." She then turned to Vara'l. "ACTO tr'Hara? Do you have any tactical insights on how to approach this? I imagine this matter is rather delicate given three hundred missing people." As she also looked to Jena and Yoro'clis. "Commander? Honored Elder?" (edited)

"Sovereign Na'utz was quite nervous when we brought it up. Might suggest there could be something with the refinery. At the same time, that is a heavy jump of a accusation to say without seeing the place" Jena answered before she turned to Yoro'clis with a smile. "Nice to see you again, Honored Elder."

1

The Honored Elder saw the situation as relatively simple. The group would need to fight in and allow the potential prisoners to make their spaces. "Most likely it will be a matter of securing a route and defending it, nothing more." Unfortunately, he had missed the actual proper briefing and only had been able to read up on some of the details. Starfleet officers would need to figure out much of the specifics. "Exactly where this path is and whether it can be negotiated for is to be seen." He then turned to Jenaha. "Oh, and it is a pleasure Commander."

Essen, who was standing back for now, joined in next to Mira. "Sir, I know sometimes we shouldn't trust our gut feeling and there's only so much we know before we're given more to go off of," Essen said. "But I have a gut feeling we may need to be covert about this whole thing. With how the Sovereign was acting about the refinery, something tells me that getting to these missing people is going to be harder than we expect. But like I said it's just a gut feeling." (edited)

"We'll be making entry to a facility deep enough down to be scan opaque in search for missing persons." The ACTO initially responded thoughtfully as the COO asked their question. "We'll have to approach the matter with extreme care and with a mind for the fact we're not there to damage the planetary administrations operations and are entering a situation without orbital support from Eventide and without information on who's responsible for the kidnapping.." He continued then before he allowed himself a small huff. "As well as needing to secure a route and likely defend it if we meet with resistance, we'll also need to gather as much information as possible as to what's going on, see if we can locate the 300 people, identify who's responsible, all of that. " He then trailed off for a moment before he continued. "We need more data, though I do feel it'd be a wise move to ensure that nobody goes anywhere alone in there, just in case." He paused a moment. "We dont want to give whoever is responsible more hostages."

"I suggest we split the party." The best idea ever. "Have one group stick around with the sovreign and follow him to see what they want us to see, meanwhile the others snoop around for anything out of the ordinary." Maya suggested, mostly because this was brainstorming and there are no such thing as bad ideas in brainstorming.

Mira nodded and listened in turn to Jena, Yoro'clis, Essen and Vara'l. "Agreed. The most common thread is that there is a lack of usable information to formulate a path forward. Still, it is wise to consider these implications prior to us implementing them." Before she then looked to Maya. "That is a good idea, Lieutenant Umali. My fellow senior staff, who is on board with that? Delegating officers to separate teams and objectives to uncover more?"

"If we find anyone we need to detain, what's the plan? Can we beam them onto the Katakara?" Eshen asked. Otherwise, if they stunned people with phasers, they'd just have to leave them there until they woke up again. Not such a bad thing, but if something happened to the facility, or if they needed people subdued longer, it would be handy.

"Two groups keeps each groups numbers up, ensures neither group is small enough to be a easy target for an attempted snatch op." Vara'l nodded thoughtfully at that even as his mind idly started to repeat parts of a certain song about splitting parties'

Looking to Eshen, Essen thought for a second. "Well, I mean. The katakara is secure of a place to hold detainees as ever. Also one of the only places we can hold detainees as of right this second. So I mean, I'd think yeah, but that's just me!"

Mira nodded. "Very well. We can delegate accordingly when appropriate and when instructed to do so. For now, we continue to wait until we receive more information as there is not much else we are able to do. How else can we use this time, friends?"

Yoro’clis nodded, agreeing with everyone else. Two teams seemed appropriate, especially with the amount of non-security personnel. It was a relatively simple idea so far, but looking in multiple places seemed like a good call. “I may no longer be senior staff, but I agree.”

1

"I agree. that sounds like a good idea for the mean time" Jena said with a nod and a thumbs up

"I was thinking we all split into groups of 1 and see if we can fit through whatever vents we see." Maya casually brought up, both knowing it would get shot down, but also feeling it would be funny enough to suggest anyway.

2

With a forlorn sigh, Mira spoke up. "Unfortunately, lieutenant Umali, perhaps we are not small enough to fit through the vents. A good idea, however, impractical." She gave her a smile, knowing it was a joke. "For now perhaps we take this time to recover. Evidently this is a mission that none of us expected to occur in such a way. Be kind to one another. Offer support where you can to those who are in pain. What we can all do in this intermediary period of time is to provide peace to one another as much as possible, aye?"

"I'd strongly advise that nobody split off alone, whenever we get into the facility." The Romulan commented then before he leaned back in his seat. Did so as he suppressed the urge to give Mira a look at the fact they'd called that idea what they'd called it. No. The rest of what they said happened to make alot of sense so like, he wanted to just wait and prepare how he tended to prepare for such missions.

"No." Jena gave her answer to Maya's suggestion before she nodded off to Mira's suggestion of giving peace to everyone else. "Come to think of it. I think I left my favorite coffee mug on the Eventide... dang..."

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“I am nearly too tall for the tubes on 777, let alone any vents.” She said. Her shoulders were also a bit wide to be doing that too, she didn’t want to get stuck. “Two teams is a sound idea.”

"You what?" he blinked, then retaliated: "Actually, don't answer that if you're uncomfortable in any way. Though I'm pretty sure I've heard something similar from Saren..." The much taller Romulan briefly looked away when Saith talked about the Eventide situation, as if unwilling to show the extent of his emotions. Still, he shrugged: "I... yeah. Being relocated to a Starbase as a helmsman was kinda hard, you know. Eventide quickly became a second home to me, where I could be in my element, you know? I know she can be fixed, but it sucks to see that she needs fixes in the first place. Like a burned down house."

Mira turned to Jena, taking a moment to be present with her. "I shall do what I can to help you replace your mug, Commander," Mira offered. "If it is to bring you peace, I shall do that to assist you."

"Also, most of the time, vents are not made for people to crawl in?.. It isn't safe?" How is that not a point that came up. ???? (edited)

For a good while, Allan was chatting with the KDF officers. It was a good way to decompress, really; a near escape of death like that, not only for you but a shitton of people you care about deeply, also? Yeah. It was also a comfort to know that the ship could likely be repaired, and so he happily chatted with the KDF officers about some notable things about the Eventide to help them out. All sorts of things about the way she worked, the way she breathed. After that, though, naturally, he'd found his way over to his two partners on board, somehow being just as drawn to Saren speaking about scientific matters just as much as Saren was drawn to responding in the chatroom when Allan asked scientific questions. "Chaunacops," he'd echoed, finding the name fun to say, "I think I've seen some pictures too, or - no, those were blobfish, I think, those don't have legs - well no, not legs, you just said fins, but like - used like legs. I think blobfish are just... the name, right?" He was almost tempted to lean his head on one of the two's shoulders, but his hair was still wet (and the curls shrinked up a little) from the spray bottling he'd gladly accepted earlier.

"Worry not, lieutenant," Mira told Iviaan. "No one will be going through vents in this mission unless instructed to do so by the sovereign or the investigator. It is certainly unsafe to do so if unsanctioned. We shall be cognizant of that." As she turned to the others. "If some of you wish to meditate with me, I do not mind for others to join me so we are present with each other and we can connect in a shared space."

Rii sat quietly in the background, convening with the Colony—listening, soothing, and steadying them in the aftermath of a near life-or-death situation. Though they remained composed, the weight of Eventide’s crash still lingered—and now, they were in a submarine. The Eventide was just a ship, something that could be repaired, but even so, they stayed silent, observing the group’s dynamics from their seat. They were prepared to interject and shut down the vent idea, but it seemed to be handling itself. Instead, they offered a measured response. *“This one agrees with the two-team approach.” *They had no desire to entertain the vent proposal—there were far too many ways that could go wrong.

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"They call the chaunacops "sea toads", actually," he lifted his hand to try and move the particularly rebellious strand of damp hair on top of Allan's head. Didn't work. Oh well. "Or tadpole fish. And blobfish is a specific species, yes. One that looks... very unfortunate, in photos where they took it out of the sea depths."

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Mira, in a swift turn around, approached Rii. "Sir," Mira said. "How are you faring in this evidently difficult time for all of us? Is there anything I can do to help you reach inner peace as we approach the deployment of this mission?"

Saith exhaled, crossing his arms to bring his knees a little closer. "I can't pretend to know exactly how you feel, since it's not something I've had to deal with personally. But, it.. I can kind of get an idea, based on what you've said..." He was So Bad At This. Elements. Could this whole submarine flood or something so he was freed from his awful comforting skills....... "Um. 's hard. It sucks. It probably won't feel the same when it's all said and done. That," he chuckled nervously, averting his eyes, "probably doesn't help, does it. Sorry, just.. I'm trying. Trying to listen and understand and all. Losing something important to you, however temporary, is hard, and scary, and you're not... I guess, as much as it means coming from a cadet, you're not alone? Is what I'm trying to say, I think." ... "Sorry."

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He laughed a little when Saren tried to move that strand of his hair, looking up at his hand and then back and then he tried to move Saren's hair strand that was just as rebellious half the time in return. That also did not work. Oh well. "Tadpole fish is... such a cute name, actually. Or - I mean, sea toads is too, but you could ... like, when they're babies, they're tadpole fish, and then they grow up into proper sea toads. Are the blobfish a lot different in the sea depths? Or do they just hate it outside?"

Oh, he remembered this from biology class. "It's like a pressure thing, right? Their bodies are held together like... I don't know to explain it."

"Like grains of rice in a balled fist." they balled their fist, as if to demonstrate. "The pressure of the clenched hand holds the rice together in a clump, but when that pressure is released it falls apart and loses its form. The same thing happens to deep sea fish removed from their habitat. Also -" They unballed their fist and waved. "Hi Allan." (edited)

The Romulan had no real connection to Eventide, were she to be honest. Being as new as she was, she didn’t really feel all torn up about it. It would be quite the repair job, that was for certain, though she was in the business of the little things…maybe she’d end up repairing a door or five, when all was said and done. In the meantime, S’rana was sat on the floor of the submarine with her legs crossed, shuffling a small deck of cards in her lap. She was attempting to remember some of the games she knew. The human game of Solitaire was good enough, but she wanted just a little bit of excitement. From her corner of the submarine came little ‘Flpflpflpflp…’ sounds, all while she stared off into space. (edited)

Something softened in his expression - truly softened, not in his usual semi-performative way when people started talking to him about his... feelings. "You don't have to do any of this, yet you are trying your best. I think that's enough, no?" he had a small smile on his face as he said that, not quite reaching his eyes, but there. "Thank you. I value this a lot, you know."

3

He nodded, "Yeah. They look like normal, regular fish when deep under water, where they should be. Thalass' explanation is pretty spot on. It's quite remarkable how they adapted to live in high-pressure environments."

The man who did not even remember if he took a biology class listened closely as the three of the others explained the blobfish to him, waving back to Thalass. "Hey Thalass," he said in reply with a grin, "thanks for explaining the blobfish mechanics." That's what it could be called, right? "Are they small, too? Like... more compressed?"

T'She had been there the whole time, of course, and they were currently listening in to the conversation -- but not saying anything. No, they were too busy going over the mission in their head.

Ato had also been there the whole time. He was just vibing in his medical uniform, with his supplies, in the back. He was easy to spot, being a ginormous blue man with very expressive antennae and pronounced Romulan forehead ridges. He remained quiet mostly until he heard the flipping of…a deck of cards from the floor near him. “Whoa,” he said softly, and took a step toward S’rana. “Can you do a bridge?” And he smiled.

The repair tech blinked herself back to reality after spacing out and lifted her eyes up to the doctor now stood above her. Her shuffling stopped for a moment, the deck of cards now held within both of her hands, “Oh, certainly,” She slipped her fingers together and slid them beneath the deck, bridging them between her thumbs, “Looking to play? I’ll warn you, I’m as fair as I like to be,” She smirked a bit.

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"Oooooooh," His voice was overly jubilant and interested. S'rana would know this type of guy. Easy mark. "Sure, okay at least you're up front about it." He laughed heartily, his antennae wiggling back and forth with his interest. "What are we playing?"

"Let's not gamble on an away mission, please," droned the text to speech, as Iviaan turned his attention to the officers on the ground.

“How many games have you got memorized?” S’rana started shuffling again, more or less just stimming with the cards in her hands, before she paused and gave Iviaan a look, “My good doctor, I wasn’t intending on gambling with the pocket lint of my uniform, I must admit.”

Iviaan almost laughed, but it came as a soft breath through his nose. It'd been mostly a joke, but the text to speech did a poor job of conveying tone. "I imagine we don't have very long until we arrive, is all. The last thing you would want is an unfinished game, no?"

“Ah, this is indeed a fair point,” She shuffled her cards again and set the deck down between herself and Ato, “We’ll play a few rounds of War, then. It’s a relatively easy game to leave behind, if we must,” She grinned.

Yoro’clis turned towards S’rana the moment that war was mentioned. He decided to see exactly what the Federation game of war was. It was likely different from anything in the Dominion, and therefore worth learning. For now the Honored Elder just watched, but his interest was piqued.

He laughed again, looking at all of the other officers sheepishly. "Oh don't worry, I lose card games quickly. And I am terrible at war. Too eager. I shouldn't be telling you that, though." He said, turning back to S'rana and squatting down to get a closer look at her cards. You could tell a lot about someone by their choice of things they kept in their pockets on away missions. Ato had a rock. "My name's Ato, by the way. Nice to meet you all!" (edited)

“S’rana,” She said with a smile, before she cut the deck in half and slid one half over toward the doctor seated across from her. She let out a chuckle, “And I’ll be keeping that little fun fact of yours in mind, friend,” She ran her finger up her half of the deck, “I’ve been at the card table since I was quite young, myself.”

After finally taking enough time to collect himself, he stood up and moved closer to S’rana, Ato, and Yoro’clis. “Hey, I’m the new engineering cadet, Dezyim 5.” He peered down at S’rana, watching her shuffle intently. “Mind if I watch your game?”

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Seeing the growing crowd Yoro'clis realized that he probably needed to introduce himself as well. He knew that Starfleet officers were a rather social group, and that everyone on the submarine would be stuck together for a while. "If you do not mind, I will observe as well. I am Honored Elder Yoro'clis." While Ato's pocket had a rock, the Jem'Hadar's uniform was full of rations, a medkit, and power cells. Perhaps the Lieutenant's belief was right, even if they had not stated it out loud.

She glanced up from her cards and looked to Dezyim and Yoro’clis at the questions and introductions offered to her. Quite the intriguing audience she had collected, isn’t it? “If so desired,” She replied, “I’ll try to be entertaining, hmhm.”

“Wonderful!” He sat down in a nearby seat, continuing to watch the cards. With the way he kept his eyes trained on them, he almost looked like a cat watching fish.

"Yeah of course, please join in. You'll watch me get absolutely wrecked. It'll be fun!" He grinned, sparkly white teeth shining in the low light and his antennae making emphatic gestures! "Welcome to the fold, Cadet. And glad you're here, Honorable Elder." Ato reached with a long arm to take his half of the deck of cards and begin to play in the usual manner. "I hope we never play poker together, S'rana." Another laugh.

“I hope we do,” The Romulan replied with a grin. She was great at poker, and she had learned that more often than not, it was a lot more fun to play with someone who wasn’t looking to gamble.

"Ah... okay well I think everyone is here.." D'ez looked around and the sub set off!! The ride was very short, only about 30min and soon they were at #corridor-01 . "Alright we're here, try not to step on any toes, no running!! This is an extremely dangerous area!"

Essen looked up as D'ez proclaimed that they arrived! So, she hopped up to her feet and was off. "Alright! Let's do this thing!" And she slowly made her way out of the sub into #corridor-01.

"That's the spirit Essen, professional... I forgot what you had said," Chris said with a little giggle, looking at her with stars in his eye. Poor little piggy seemed to be smitten.

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Mira also turned to the investigator. "Thank you, investigator," she said, before she looked back to Chris. "She's a professional little shit," she remarekd unironically before she headed out as well into #corridor-01.

"Alright, once you all get out I'm going to go park the sub. They don't have valet parking here," D'ez said as they looked out the window to see they were in an "unloading zone only".

Yoro'clis went with the rest of the group, seeing that it was time to head down the corridor. The interesting part of the mission was beginning, and he did not plan on missing it. It would also just have been difficult to fight the crowd, so he also went into #corridor-01

Ato looked up at the Investigator and quickly gave S'rana her cards back before standing up, straightening his uniform, and following everyone to the corridor. He hoped that there would be no real need for an emergency medical doctor, but he was happy to be there just in case.

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T'She was also following everyone to the corridor, brushing off the front of their uniform and taking a deep breath to center themself before they made their way into #corridor-01 .

Vara'l slipped to his feet and headed out of the sub as he followed Essen. "Thank you Investigator." He glanced briefly to the Lieutenant Commander at the comment he overheard before he headed into the corridor and departed the submarine.

Dezyim stood, glancing around briefly. He gave a short nod to the investigator before turning to follow the crowd into the corridor.