[AU] Join Together or Fall Apart

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2020 @ 11:06pm by Captain Nycolas Temple & Sasha Vieers (Deceased)
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:01pm

Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Deck 2

A Mission Post by Captain Nycolas Temple & Ensign Sasha Vieers
Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Deck 2
Timeline:
Mon Jul 30th, 2018 @ 8:06am

The cold heart of what remained of the USS Pandora was a quiet place these days. Days had turned into weeks, weeks to months, and now a year had gone by since the tragic loss of First Lieutenant Arnaldo. The time had not been so kind to the survivors in this bubble universe, which continued to shrink slowly until all of Deck 3 was consumed into the darkness of space. Thankfully no more lives had been lost, due to most of the ship’s sensors now tracking and anticipating the shrinking universe. The plans for a prototype probe had to be put on the back-burner as survival took priority.

That’s not to say survival had unified the crew. A divide that had begun when Captain Temple demoted Smith and Kaleri had only continued to spread. Quiet disagreements turned to full-on arguments, those arguments turned into deep rifts, and now the crew were split into two factions. Those of the Old Guard, Nyx, Brennan, Griffin, Fick, and the Security team, had sequestered themselves on the port side of the ship, including the Captain’s Ready Room on Deck 1, and half of the senior crew quarters on Deck 2. The Splinter group of Kaleri, Smith, Vieers, and at least a dozen other junior officers, had the Executive Officer’s quarters and the rest of the crew dormitories on the starboard side. Only the Bridge remained neutral territory, where one officer from each faction stood guard.

Starfleet protocols had broken down, though long after they had stopped believing in rescue and started planning for survival. The ultimate divide came after Nyx continued to push for ways in which they could escape, while others believed those resources could be better used to create comfort for the crew. There were only so many times one could comfortably eat rations. For Nyx, he wasn’t prepared to settle in and await rescue, he was prepared to suffer to maintain the stiff-upper-lip of regulation and the possibility of escape. This ultimately meant losing the support of his crew. The only respite being that both sides had agreed to peacefully disagree, for now, without any aggression.

In an attempt to keep further divisions at bay, Nyx was ensuring that his side of the split were well-looked after and comfortable. The garden grown by Lieutenant Brennan ensured they were not just eating rations, but regular servings of fruit and vegetables too. Nyx had continued to require patrols, Bridge shifts, and equipment maintenance, to keep everyone busy and productive. It was all they could do until they either found a way out, or were rescued. Nyx would never admit that as the time had gone by, he was beginning to fear that escape would never be possible.

Nyx was finishing one of his patrols late one night when he heard the distinct noises of someone in a nearby room. Raising up his beacon light, the Captain moved around the corridors quietly, keeping his footsteps soft and nearly soundless as he headed towards the noise. Reaching one of the empty offices, Nyx took a breath before suddenly wrenching the door open and shining his light into the room.

The former Ensign Rochester cried out suddenly, dropping the items that were in his hands. Nyx shone the beacon directly into his eyes, as he saw the young Ops officer had been collecting small wooden desk ornaments.

"What are you doing?" Nyx asked seriously, "This isn't your part of the ship."

"No, I know." Dorian quickly replied, keeping his hands in the air, despite Nyx not holding his phaser. "You've scared me half to death, Captain."

"Answer the question!" Nyx insisted.

"It's my fault." Came Sasha's voice from behind. Nyx spun around and flashed the beacon into her eyes now.

"This isn't your part of the ship either." Temple replied, his tone growing less and less patient by the moment. "Someone better start explaining."

"Rochester and I were looking for toys for baby Aurora." Sasha said, squinting against the harsh light. "We must have ventured out of our area without realising."

"Without realising?" Nyx asked incredulously, flashing the beacon back and forth between the two. "Gee, what an odd mistake to make."

Rochester scoffed, "We're not used to having seperate areas of the ship, Captain." He said pointedly.

"That's your choice." Nyx replied, just as pointedly. "You've chosen to become civilians and live outside of Starfleet regulations, so you must keep to your civilian quarters. Your actions have consequences and being withheld to the living areas of the ship was one of them."

"We're trying to survive." Rochester hit back. "You chose to demote us all!"

The Captain could only shake his head. "I'm trying to get us out of here. Your insubordination has been a major setback to our chances of rescue. This was a time when we had to join together in order to escape. Instead you've chosen to deliberately allow the crew to fall apart. You don't get to lecture me on choices."

Feeling the intensity of the situation rising, Sasha took a hesitant step forward. "Captain. I'm sorry we strayed out of our area. I assure you it was only with good intentions to help Kaleri and Smith with their baby. It was an honest mistake."

Nyx squared his eyes at the young Ensign. Once, they had been good friends. She had the boldness to tell the Captain to get out of his funk and rejoin the crew for the good of their morale. Now she was on the opposite side of this divide and he felt like he'd lost another friend. In truth, he missed talking to them all, eating meals together, fighting the good fight together. He just wanted his crew back.

"Drop anything you found and head back to your quarters." Nyx said, his tone still firm. He was the Captain, after all, and order had to be maintained. "If you're found outside of your area again, you will be detained."

Rochester was about to say something but Sasha shot him a very commanding look, and the young man closed his mouth again. The two silently walked off into the darkened corridor together. Nyx waited for a while before slowly following behind them. He made a mental note to post an additional patrol in this corridor to prevent any more accidental border crossings.

He wanted the crew back, but it was going to be under his terms.