Star Trek: Starbase 777

Clear water of greens and blues washed in and out with the tide here. A wooden hut, high up on raised silts that sunk into the sand, marked a lifeguard tower - not that anyone should need rescuing, but you never knew. Looking out beyond was the unending deeper ocean, and a bright blue sky with not a cloud in sight.

Mavna took in a deep breath of the simulated beach breeze. It reminded her of her visits to Orion, though with a lot less ridiculous formal wear. With little effort, she kicked off her flip flops and started to wade back and forth in the tides, enjoying feeling the water washing overtop her as she waited for Vesta.

Orions and other species with green skin were common among the station, but she could have been able to find Mavna anywhere, even if it had been pitch black at night, Vesta would have found her. She didn’t run over to the woman, but she sped up her walking once she spotted her. She raised her hand nice and high and waved, trying to get Mavna’s attention as she stepped foot into the calm shallow waters.

1

Mavna would’ve definitely gotten pretty dark green in the face had Vesta said something like that, that she was hard to miss. The instant the Orion saw Vesta, she beamed and quickly closed the distance between the two of them. She hugged Vesta very tightly with just one arm, the other still dangly by her side as she held the two iced coffees. She broke the hug after a bit, “Hi! Hi, it’s really good to see you,” She said with a little giggle before holding up her hand and signing ‘Hello again, it’s nice to see you!’ “I’ve been learning,” She grinned. (edited)

Keeping a comfortable distance from the two on their date (good for them), Kirio waded out far enough so that the water came up around their chest when they lowered into a squat. Awesome.

Dakkil mirrored Kirio, giving the two lovebirds space as well, stopping about waist deep, dunking itself underwater briefly to cool its body down before emerging again dripping wet. It grinned, then spotted Kirio and waved, unsure if they would appreciate company or would prefer to be left alone for now.

Oh, people!! Kirio waved back, staggering as a wave washed onto shore and sent them a bit off balance. Embarrassing!! "Cool party," they said. Wow. Social Interactor Of The Year Award.

1

Dakkil meandered closer to Kirio, holding back a (not at all mean-spirited) giggle as the wave knocked them over. "For sure," it agreed, toeing its flip-flops off and sticking them in the pockets of its swim trunks. "Whoever programed this thought of literally everything," it said appreciatively, looking around, impressed.

"Yeah!" Righting themself, Kirio scooted back a little just to sit with their chest and shoulders above water, hands planted behind them. "I could never figure this out. All the technical stuff and modeling and..." They waved. "I'm not cut out for it. So props to everyone who knows how to make this stuff.*

Vesta was surprised by the hug, but returned it with matching, maybe even exceeding it, in strength. She had many reasons to return to specifically starbase 777, but she would be lying if she said that the woman she was currently hugging wasn’t a major one. They parted from the hug and Mavna greeted her, and then greeted her again in sign. Vesta’s eyes lit up, she never expected people around her to learn SSL or TSL, especially once she had received her gloves and visor, so every time somebody did, it always felt special. “Mavna.” She signed, almost in awe. “You have!”

The idea that she was one of Vesta’s reasons for returning hadn’t quite crossed Mavna’s mind, but she definitely hoped that she stayed in the back of the Trill’s mind. She gave a quick little happy nod, signing, “Still learning,” before she giggled, returning to speaking, “I know you don’t like keeping the visor on all the time, so I wanted to be ummm…accommodating, you know?” Her cheeks were just ever so slightly dark green as she spoke to Vesta. “Oh! Um-” She held an iced coffee out to Vesta, “Here you go! Just like I promised.”

Vesta watched her hands intently, her sign didn’t have the finesse of a person who had been signing their whole life, but it was pretty good. Vesta could understand her without help from the visor at the very least. “You remembered that.” She couldn’t help the smile and light blush on her face. Many people she encountered believed that accommodations like her own were all the time things. Few people realized how tiring they could be. It meant a lot to her that Mavna realized that and had put in the effort to try to help her. Gratefully Vesta accepted the iced coffee, which thanks to 25th century technology, was still just as cold as when it was made. “Thank you.” She signed, taking a small sip of it. It was good, not to strong, not to creamy, she smiled again. “The next one will be on me.”

“I’m good with remembering,” She said with a little smile, taking a sip of her coffee and looking out at the water for a few moments. It wasn’t as great as a view as seeing Vesta blush, but if she kept paying attention to Vesta blushing she’d immediately be dark green in the face. “I suppose that’s fair,” She said with a chuckle, turning back to Vesta, “That means there’s a next one, though,” She smiled.

Vesta followed Mavna’s eyes to the artificial horizon. It’s artificial endlessness gave her an unexpected pang in her stomach and she suddenly had the desire to stare out of one of the stations windows into the true emptiness of space. I understand why Hayati wanted to stay on the Cydonia now, she thought to herself, I want to stay on 777. Vesta took a sip of her coffee before looking back at Mavna and beginning to sign again. “Many more, I have to make it up to you for never getting coffee when we promised that we would.” She blinked a few times, knowing what she needed to say but struggling to find the right words. “And for leaving as suddenly as I did.”

1

Mavna was used to dark green water, slightly yellow skies, and the sunlight bleeding through teal clouds. The water here in the holodeck- Well, ‘water,’ was fairly foreign to her, even with her time at SFA, but it still felt familiar. 777 already felt like home. The holodeck only helped make things more comfortable. Vesta did too, though there was a part of her that was worried saying that would be too forward. She let out a little laugh, “Many more, I’ll hold you to it.” Her somewhat teasing expression melted into a very touched one, “Hey, it’s okay. That’s how it goes sometimes, right? And you’re back now, so…” She paused before giggling, “Goddess, um- I did…miss you. And…I’m glad you’re back,” It seemed like the both of them were struggling for words, which was rare for the confident Mavna.

Vesta herself was appreciating that the water wasn’t tinted purple, as it was on Trill. The blue waters reminded her of her one time visit to Risa and her time at the Starfleet Academy back on earth. “Yeah, still, I’m sorry. I should have messaged or called.” But for a while there, she didn’t know if she would ever be able to come back, and it felt wrong at the time to keep contact with someone she might never see again. “I’m glad I’m back too, I don’t think I realized how much I missed it until I was back.” How much I missed you, was silent, unsure if to say it even though Mavna had said it first. Vesta had built the woman up in her head over the past few months, and though their reunion was going extremely well, Vesta was still somewhat hesitant.

True to her words, Garcia immediately made her way to the edge where sea met sand, leaving her sarong and havaianas behind her. Gentle waves greeted her feet with a chill that went all the way up her spine and she took a deep breath. The salty breeze made her smile. Oh how she loved beaches! She smiled around and waved at any passerby’s as she made it deeper. She did not have to go far for the water to reach her belly. Perks of being smaller than average.

Maggie sat in the waters on her lonesome, working away at some work on her PADD. She waved towards Garcia with a smile on her face. “Water’s nice, right?”

Smiling and waving back she took it as an invitation to get closer. She nodded enthusiastically at the question. “Just perfect! I didn’t even realize I missed going to the beach this much. I’m Garcia by the way and you?”

Maggie hummed as she looked at the other woman. “I’m Maggie! It’s nice to meet you Garcia.” She said with a small smile.

”Likewise! What you got there?” She noticed the PADD on Maggies hands. “Are you reading? You’re one of those who likes a good book along with a good beach?”

Maggie hummed as she looked at the other woman. “Oh? Oh oh sorry! This is work. My mental health’s been kinda shit recently and I fell behind on my reports, and I don’t want my co-worker to be pissed at me.” *She said simply.+

”Work? On the beach?” God be good, Garcia had found another fellow workaholic. And a workaholic that was more workaholic than her! “I mean who am I to judge. And who is this guy to judge, we all need a break sometimes! Our coworkers should be understanding I think.”

Maggie shuddered. “I know, but I think their smart, so that’s what counts I guess. Bit of a putain though.” She said, letting some of that French fly. She’s Canadian don’t you know. “Besides, it’s science stuff! I love it.” (edited)

Garcia did giggle at the word. Although she did not speak french, her last Commander at the Dumont had been a proud french woman all the way from French Guiana. She knew a swear when she heard one. “Well I know a thing or two about loving my work so I will not act as if I think you’re wrong.”

Maggie nodded softly. “Yeah I had a time of it lately so, you know just trying to focus on work.” She said with a sigh. “I’m still not like fine, but I’m trying to be.” She said with a shaky breath. “Anyway, sorry for dragging time your vibe.”

She had heard those words before, or rather been the one to say them. “Don’t worry, you haven’t. I know a thing or two about having a bad period, besides I’m already a pro at getting myself down, other people can’t beat me!” Ah the old getting your problems and turn them into jokes. Another thing she was a pro at.

Maggie smiled softly. “Heh, thanks Garcia.” She said as she leaned back in the water, letting her hair get wet. “I’m just kinda in the spot of, trying to find who I even am now.”

”Jesus! One of those times huh?” She decided to copy the motion and even allow herself to float a little. “With the risk of sounding very cliché, but we kinda can be whatever we want you know? So just… don’t focus on trying to rationalize what your mind wants you to be from now on, go by what feels right. Trust me, you’ll find stuff that feels right, just follow that.”

After a little while of wandering, eventually the Romulan found what she was looking for, spotting the familiar figure over at the shallows, she quickly made her way over to where Garcia was, quickly noticing she was with somebody else... She slowed down to a halt, standing with a cheeky smile at the end of the water. "Wooow, you turn up ten minutes late and suddenly you've replaced me already... I'm hurt, darling."

Maggie looked towards the Romulan with a light blush. “Oh! Uhm! Sorry, we weren’t uh, doing anything!” She said, oh no! If Garcia was dating someone she didn’t want to give her partner the wrong idea! “I was just doing work over here and we were chatting.”

”Corvus!” Garcia smiled and turned to stand upright again. “Do you like me enough already to forgive a big splash of sea water in your face?” She splashed water in the other’s direction weakly just to illustrate the question. “Silly! Come over! Don’t worry Maggie, she has no right to claim yet.”

"Hmm, I do like you enough to forgive a big splash of seawater, but you don't have to, I get your point." She said with a soft chuckle, as she sat down next to Maggie, giving her a soft smile as she extended a hand out. "I'm Corvus, it's a pleasure to meet you, Maggie. You don't worry about me, that was just a joke."

Maggie blushed softly at the misunderstanding before shaking the hand of the other woman. “Oh! Okay! Sorry!” She said awkwardly.”It’s lovely to meet you Corvus! Where do you work?” She asked nicely with a tilt of her head.

”Good! Don’t scare away my new friend. I like making those a bunch.” She did, and it was the reason she had broken up with her first boyfriend all the way back to fifteen. The boy couldn’t stand to leave her alone with her friends at school. Confidence issues much?

"Tactical, I'm a long ranged specialist. I sit far away and take out the bad guys if they threaten you guys. But I also have a minor speciality in hand-to-hand combat in case they get a little too close." She said with a chuckle. "I'm an exchange officer from the Romulan Republic, and I'm quite glad I decided to come all the way out here, cause I've had the chance to meet you two lovely ladies." She said with a little smirk, as she slipped off her covering and moved down into the water next to Garcia. "Hey, you know I love making new friends too. And I don't have to worry about being jealous, I can share."

Maggie’s eyes grew stars as her inner nerd came out to play. “Oh! Oh! Are you a sniper! I’ve read about those guys in books and games! There’s this one guy who’s like a bird kinda alien, and he’s so coool! Oh man that’s-“ She coughed slowly. “Oh uhm! Sorry! Nerding out over your job probably isn’t the best thing to do.” She said, her brain having short-circuited from being called a lovely lady.

”Well there’s a lot of lovely folks around the station, careful or you’ll never wanna go back to the Republic.” The first part was true, Garcia had met many interesting and nice people on 777 and already accounted for several new friends. It made her both happy and relieved that things had found a way to get back in track. “Hey yes to nerd out, always yes to nerd out! Corvus job is cool as hell.” And she said that genuinely.

"There are a lot of lovely folk around the station, I'm very jealous of not getting to come out here sooner. Not to say that the republic doesn't have lovely people too, that is..." She said with a lighthearted chuckle. "And yes, I am a 'sniper' of sorts, and yes, it is very cool. It can get a little lonely if you're on a mission that requires you to be on overwatch for a few hours, you need to get used to talking your colleagues ears off through the radio."

Maggie nodded as she placed her padd on the ground before getting closer towards the other two in the water. “Cool! Sorry I can be a uhm, massive nerd sometimes.” She said with a small laugh. “There are a lot of people that are awesome! I’ve been here a few years, and don’t really intend to leave unless I have to.”

Maya planted her surfboard and set her water gun down at the sand as she gave herself a moment to admire the beach and seaside. It may not be the real thing, but this was close enough. Whilst she scanned the beach to check its conditions for a surf, Maya found 3 people. One person she probably worked with; one person Paco probably worked with; and a 3rd person she didn't recognize, but felt she would get acquainted with soon enough. Perfect! * *From her bandolier, Maya equipped herself with a water balloon and left the other stuff behind as she began casually walking towards them.

Mavna’s eyes slid over to Vesta as the two of them looked out at the water, the corner of her mouth quirking up slightly. She could tell that there was maybe something missing in what Vesta had said, though she didn’t want to go assuming things. The Orion scooted a bit closer to her, ostensibly to avoid some of the tide, but mostly to bump her shoulder against Vesta’s. “777 is a pretty cool place,” She said with a smile, “I don’t know a lot of other posts that have beach parties,” She laughed.

She kept hearing the both of them discussing Corvus’ line of work when another person caught her eye. It was Maya! Yes, Garcia knew who she was as they both worked under the same division and shared a shift or too. If Garcia was not mistaken, the other was a mechanic. She waved as Maya approached. “Nice party huh?”

"Oh yeah, this is a great party. I love the summer!" Maya said with a smile as she approached. "I especially love doing this!" Maya said before she threw the water balloon straight to Gracia's head, whom she recognized from her from some shifts and most meetings. Maya was quite proud of herself. (edited)

Vesta went back into her mind, trying to remember if any of her previous postings had beach parties. Starbase 611 was planet side and not near a beach at all. It had parties about as often as Starbase 777, but they were never beach themed. She survived 2 wars on the Zenith, and there was no time for parties during either of them. The Cydonia had the occasional holodeck party, but she couldn’t remember one that beach themed. She smiled as Mavna bunched her shoulder. “You’re right, this is my first posting with an officially sanctioned beach party!” (edited)

With the reflexes of a mighty turtle, Garcia could only feel the sudden impact and the balloon followed by the chill of water. To be fair, she had already been wet, in the middle of the shallows, belly deep in sea water. Still, she was not about to let the provocation pass. It was on. “HEYAA.” Her first look to Maya was one of complete disbelief but it soon was replaced by an almost maniac smile and a strange glee. “OH GET BACK HERE HAHA!” Garcia sprung after the other. Her plan was to either tackle her in the sand or throw her in the sea. Whatever was closer.

Another water balloon throw as Garcia spoke. "HAHAHAHA! Try and catch me Cap'n Slow!" Maya sprung away as she made her escape with the advantage of being taller (She's around 5'6"). That probably doesnt matter in the water anyway. She frantically armed herself with another balloon, and knew well that ammo is a finite resource... She had 5 balloons; she used 2; now down to her final 3. Every shot matters now. Maya should get to the watergun by her surfboard. That's the direction she would take. Defend herself.... and then supersoak everyone else on the beach and maybe the volleyball court! (edited)

”GHAH!” The balloon expertly splashed itself against her head. Garcia was not as tall and definitely not that fast, but she managed to get close. With the surprise of another hit, she instinctively bat a huge about of water with her arms on the woman. “You get some too! Ha!” (edited)

She smiled as she watched Maya come over, oh wonderful another person to come and join the party. She watched as the newcomer hurled a water balloon at Garcia, as a few droplets splashed off her friend and hit her too... Okay, hello newcomer. "Well then, you're certainly a chaotic one." "Nobody soaks my friend and gets away with it!" She said as she turned her hips, planting her feet down in the sand as she (as best as she could) started to charge towards Maya. "Get her!!"

2

"NO! SEAWATER!! MY WEAKNESS!! I'M BLIINNND!" Maya dramatically said as she wiped the water off her eyes... with a handful of water from the water?? Eitherway, the splash did make her pause for a good bit only to realize the situation had changed when she regained sight. "Ay puta!" Maya shouted out as she realized the battle had changed. Two targets now for water ballooning. If she could slow both down, that could give her a chance to get closer back to shore. With that resolve, she took aim and threw a separate volley of two balloons.

1

”Get her Corvus!!” This time the ball splashed right behind her in the sea. Missed! Which meant she was managing to get even closer. “You’re getting out of ammo!”

Maggie laughed as she watched the display in front of her with a giggle. “Maya! Watch out! Don’t make us nerds look bad.” She said as she looked at the display, out of the firing line.

Crap! Her last balloon! Curse you salt water blindness! "Hi Maggie! Paco says hi!" Maya called out before she continued to slowly and desperately wade her way back to shore. That last balloon must be for self defense now... the last one to evade capture! Why did she waste so many balloons so quickly! "The both or three of yous will never get me alive!" Maya shouted out as she continued to trek through the water.

The romulan was quicker than Maya, with her agility and experience trekking through the most awkward of environments, a little water was no match for her. She quickly moved, gaining on the smaller engineer, as she jumped forward to tackle her! But she was too speedy, and Corvus was a little too far behind to get her, so she threw her arms out and splashed a big wave towards her. "Get back here you little menace!"

Maggie smiled at Maya mentioning Paco. “I’ll help you out, I don’t know if he would really like me teaming on his family.” She said as she moved closer to splash at Corvus. “Take that taccie!”

Smiles in quiet knowledge that Paco would team up with Garcia and Corvus anyway simply out of spite, but is glad for the help either way.

”Hey! Traitor!” Well, since Corvus now had another for to worry about, she kept on after Maya. Her strikes were not very graceful, the bulk of the water providing some resistance for both of them. As they got closer to the dry sand though, the movements got easier, and the older engineer was determined on reaching the other before they left the water. “A-HA!” Finally she got close enough, throwing herself on Maya and getting both of them down. Water invaded her mouth, her eyes and her ears, the salt made her cough, mixed with laughter. She had gotten her! And good.

"

" Were the only words that were able to escape from Maya as she stood there, frozen in her final moments as Garcia threw herself onto Maya. She would've thrown her last balloon in a valiant defense, but it was far too late. "GHAH! Noooo!!" And down Maya went with Garcia, where she instinctively held on to her as she struggled to resurface "I'M TOO GAY TO DIE!" She playfully yelled out before going through the coughing fit of salt water going in her mouth and nose, mixed with laughter as well. "HAHAHA! I fucking love the beach!"

1

"You're not getting away with this just because you're gay!" She said with a chuckle, as she moved and turned towards Maggie now. "And don't think you're getting away with it either, traitor!" She said, as she moved over and grabbed hold of Maggie around the waist and threw her towards the deeper part of the water again. "You're gonna pay for siding with the gremlin!" The romulan said, as she threw the human scientist into the water with a fit of giggles.

Maggie gasped out as she was tossed into the water, coming out of the waves with a small gasp as she tried to pull Corvus into the water with her. “Her cousin is my co-worker! I can’t not team up with her!” She said with a breath, realizing that pulling the much more fit Corvus into the water would be a bit of a challenge. “Also! This is 777, most everyone is gay!”

Mavna grinned at Vesta and, with another quick sip of her iced coffee, she took Vesta’s hand and pulled her off in another direction, “C’mon, it’s a beach party, we gotta go liiike…wading or something!” She giggled.

She was forced to let go of Maya, least she ended up suffocating with the water in the middle of a giggle fit. It was shallow enough for her to kneel on the sand safely, the sea only reaching right bellow her chest. “We should have done this way before, commander!” They had had eventually shared a task or a shift, but had not yet fooled around like this.

"Hahhh this was wayyy overdue! We should definitely do this again some time!" Maya happily offered with a chuckle. She would love more opportunities to fool around and about. "Maybe next time I'll be the one tackling you." She said playfully with a laugh as she finally relaxed and knelt down before cheekily splashing some water on Garcia. "You look great." Maya half blurted out. "I made a cool water gun, wanna see?"

Vesta’s eyes widened as she was pulled off, but her smile was wide anyway, feeling the heat of the artificial sun beaming down on her skin. She laughed as she read Mavna’s words and followed after her. “Of course!” She signed while laughing.

1

She grabbed onto Maggie, and the two of the fall backwards under the water together, getting properly soaked, as she giggled and looked over to Garcia and Maya, splashing a wave of water their way. "Hey! You two get back in here, I wasn't done with you guys."

Maggie giggled in turn as Corvus fell into the water with her. “Hey! Don’t forget about me.” She said, splashing her in turn from close range.

”Hey!” The wave did not reach them in full, only a few drops falling into her. But the message was clear and Garcia turned her attention to the Romulan. “What??? What do you mean you two? We’re on the same team Corvus!” And then Maggie got a huge splash on the other’s face and the giggles were back for the engineer. “Haha… yeah, ha! Take that little traitor hahaha!”

"There's no teams when it comes to play fighting! Everybody is fair game." She said with a large chuckle as she threw Maggie off her and headed towards Garcia with a massive mischievous grin on her face. "You're next, darling." She said as rushed through the water towards her next target.

Maggie gasped as she was tossed off of the Romulan and landed in a heap in the water. “Helpppp, I’ve been killed by the evil tactical officer. Bleh.” She said before fake dying.

"

!" Maya blurted out again as she watched Corvus heading towards their direction after she threw Maggie off. "Don't worry Maggie, I'm comin! POCKET SPLASH!" Maya yelled out loud as she picked up a handful of seawater and threw it at Garcia's face and made her way towads her ally. "You won't get away with this..... TactiCool looking person I don't know the name of yet, but going to guess is Corvus based on context clues!"

Garcia coughed at the unexpected water being thrown at her. Damn, now she was alone and seemed like she had become everyone’s target. ”Well guess I’m out of allies.” She looked Corvus dead in the eyes, stood straight and did a salute waiting for the Romulan to reach her. “It is a good day to die!” She proclaimed loudly.

The romulan swiftly reached Garcia, arms wrapping around her waist with a smile and grabbed her and pulled her down into the water alongside her. "Well at least you concede that you've lost this fight!" She twirled around and threw Garcia as best she could into the water ahead of her with a loud scream of joy.

She didn't know if it was the water stuck in her ears, but Maya heard something, or at least a bit of something that gave her an idea so good that she quickly turned around, only to flop down to the water in the progress. In her haste, Maya decided to swim a brief moment, using the momentum to float over back to Garcia when her head hit her belly. "you wanna 3v1 Corvus?" Maya offered as she pointed at Corvus with her foot, still layed down afloat on the water and looking up

“Yeah sure!” She said, getting up to her feet decidedly not actually dead. “Lets get her team!”

"Nooo wait you're not supposed to gang up on me!" She said with a chuckle as she turned back towards Maya and Maggie, as she brought her hands up in a mock fighting stance. "That's not faaaair."

“Maya! Fastball special!” She said as she tossed Maya towards Corvus (summoning her best steel skinned communist impression) to toss her.

”I LIVE!” Garcia screamed while holding onto Corvus so the other two could throw as much water as they wished. “GET THAT, DARLING!”

"Everybody is fair game! You said!" And so Maya was somehow tossed. Tossed like the waterballoons she armed herself with earlier. She was sort of like a water balloon. People are like... 60-70 percent water after all, maybe. Either way, she was the water balloon. And while on the air she spread her arms outward to tackle both Garcia and Corvus into the water, absolutely not questioning how Maggie managed to toss her. It was like Foxy from FNAF 2. But gay.

1

The romulan looked over in faintly shocked horror at the small purple haired lesbian being thrown through the air in their general direction, as she fell back into the water with a scream as she was tackled by Maya. "AAAH! Mayaaaa!"

1

Maggie charged after the suddenly short Canadian runt Maya, and leaped onto the back of the engie. “Pile it on!”

"Jesus!" Since she had been holding on to the Romulan, it was inevitable for her to also be tackled along with Maya's move. She rose from underwater, gasping, coughing and laughing so hard her lungs must have definitely received a good amount of sea water. "You guys are insane! Where have yall been all my life!"

"uhh, Colony near Romulus, Free State, Romulan Republic, y'know all the way over there in romulan space." She said with a chuckle as she grabbed hold of Garcia, sliding a hand around her waist and then around Maya and Maggie on the other side. Group huuuug."

“I mean like, Earth or space you know, Starfleet stuff.” She said, otherwise melting into the hug. It was nice to get away from her troubles and just have fun.

"Okay, fair, but I was there too! Eventually! For brief periods of time! And a LONG time on Starfleet!" She accepted the hug smiling wide.