Finding Failure

Posted on Sat Oct 5th, 2024 @ 7:54am by Raven Mattel & Ignatius & Unknown

Mission: The Only Thing Left Was Hope
Location: Risa - Nuvia City
Timeline: The morning after "Urgent Reunions"

ON:

"I can't believe we missed them!" Raven seethed as she angrily pulled her suitcase through their hotel suite and out of the door; the case banging against the frame as she did.

"I know." Ignatius sighed, not too far behind. He was trying not to get too upset as he was carrying the prototype for his dress in a special case. He could only shake his head and sigh once more. "I know."

"I'm ropable!" Raven continued as they exited their room and headed towards the turbolift. "We could've stopped this!"

Ignatius nodded silently. "I'm sure the Captain will be fine. Mindo will find him."

"He trusted us and we failed." Raven huffed, determined not to be cheered up. "And now he's gone."


[The Night Before]

Raven and Ignatius were strolling confidently down the Nuvia City streets, both dressed in black attire. Raven had a long black evening grown with a slit up the right leg on, while Ignatius had a black turtleneck under a blazer and he carried a black cane under his arm. It was their spy chic look. Ignatius opened his jacket pocket and checked on the little Destiny promotional card, as it highlighted the way to their destination.

"It was round this corner, right?" Raven asked quietly.

"One more left." Ignatius replied, eyes shifting across the street.

A few moments later they came across the same almost-empty plot of land in the heart of the city, with the familiar pod sitting inconspicuously in the middle. Walking up to with confidence, the two held up their card. This time there was no security guard to greet them, only a small screen which appeared from behind a panel. The screen scanned their invite card and turned green. The doors to the pod slid open quietly, inviting them inside.

Once in the pod, Ignatius and Raven shared a nervous look before stepping to the transporters. They held hands as the beam of light enveloped them.

Raven and Ignatius did not materialize inside the special room Captain Temple had reserved for the Pandora reunion. Not yet anyway. They had another mission at hand, and they would reunite with their crew once that was complete. They slinked into the room as casually as they could. This room was an elegant cocktail lounge, full of leather lounges, old wood tables, and the gentle caress of jazz-like Risian music filling the air. There was a bar at the far end of the room, but the pair were not heading towards it. Instead, they were slowly looking around the room, trying to find a familiar face.

"It worked." Raven smiled, "We ended up where we needed to be."

"That's Destiny." Ignatius nodded with a raised eyebow, "Now we just have to find our man. What did your contact say?"

"Every night for the past week, he comes to this room, orders a single drink and stays for exactly half an hour." Raven repeated. "He appears, he drinks once, then disappears."

Ignatius frowned as he continued to look around the room, while trying not to look too obvious. The low lighting of the space was making it difficult to see faces. Everyone was huddled in private conversations; the lounge was a place for intimacy and discretion. Undoubtedly why their target liked it so much. He could tell there was a security guard in the corner, though he was shielding in the shadows he was standing with arms crossed and a weapon by his hip. Ignatius wondered if he belonged to the club or an important patron currently inside.

"It's hard to see." Raven complained, having the same thought as him.

"This is a place for people who don't want to be seen." Ignatius replied.

The two found themselves a corner booth, which Ignatius used his cane to point out, and they slid into the rounded bench seat as quietly as possible. On the table there was a small screen where they could order a drink.

"We should order something," Ignatius murmured, as he started noticing the drinks on the other tables. Some were empty but many others had never been touched. "For the sake of appearances."

"I'll take a G and T without the G." Raven said, very aware of how inebriated they had been the night before when they met with Mindo. "With lemon."

Ignatius started tapping at the pad and ordered himself a Shirley Temple. He thought to ask the Captain later at the reunion if there was any relation to the drink's namesake. Raven meanwhile continued to stare around the room, not seeing anyone who looked like their mysterious porter. The human man with orange hair who gave them the invite to Destiny, which lead them to find Mindo again. The Captain believed this was no coincidence and potentially connected to the search for the Pandora.

"I am a little excited for this." Raven whispered to her friend, "We're like undercover officers on a mission."

"Undercover officers don't talk about being undercover officers," Ignatius replied with a terse smile. "And we're not officers at all, we're just doing a little reconnaissance for Nyx. I have no intention of putting on a red shirt any time soon."

At this Raven shrugged a little. She was enjoying her moment of purpose, just as she had (mostly) enjoyed their special mission to Hesiod Blue that one time. She felt part of the ship for a change, instead of just being a civilian watching from the sidelines. But Ignatius didn't share her love of adventure like that so she didn't want to press the point any further with him.

A moment later they were approached by a tall, stunning Deltan woman carrying a tray. She smiled broadly at the two as she placed the glasses onto their table. "Thank you for your patronage." She smiled.

"Oh darling, you are fabulous." Raven cooed, giving her an approving up and down look, "What's your name?"

"Huyo," She replied, "Now, aren't you the two who caused a ruckus last night in the barcade?"

With a groan, Ignatius slid down in his chair in embarrassment, as he sipped his drink quietly. Perhaps the security guard in the corner was there because their reputation was now proceeding them? Destiny didn't want another repeat of the performance the trio had delivered the night before. Unperturbed, Raven gave out a small laugh.

"Ruckus, us? No darling, it was just lively." Raven immediately turned on her charm, "We woke them UP last night!"

Huyo giggled a little, that glittering smile never fading. "So I heard. But I take it from your drink orders, you're looking for a tamer night, tonight?"

"Very much so." Ignatius murmured.

"Destiny brought us here, so it must be our fate." Raven replied with a cool shrug, "I don't suppose you get many folks like us in here?"

Huyo frowned and looked around. She saw the security guard standing cloaked in the corner and looked back with that trademark smile, "I try not to notice. But it is a much quieter crowd that's for sure."

"Do you often work here?" Raven asked, quietly stirring the lemon into her tonic water without breaking eye contact with the Deltan.

"I do." Huyo nodded, "Because it's quieter, I much prefer it here. The barcade and the private rooms tend to get a little too rowdy." She sighed, "And touchy."

Ignatius picked up on Raven's line of questioning, and he sat up straight again. "Do you get many humans here? I... don't see many others, that's all."

Huyo paused and shrugged, "Sometimes."

"Any regulars?" Raven pressed, while still maintaining her smile.

Huyo realized she was being quizzed and squinted at the two, "It's against policy to discuss other patrons, I'm sorry."

Raven silently retrieved something from under the table, pulled from a small pouch she had strapped around her leg and accessed through the slit in her cocktail dress. She kept her hand over it as she slid it across the table to the Deltan. She gave a quick glance to the security guard who had not moved.

"Federation credits for a few more moments of your time?" She smiled.

Huyo blinked, "I really can't." Her eyes gazed into Raven's, "Really. They don't like it when I do." She gave the slightest head tilt towards the security guard and put on that smile again.

"Maybe somewhere else then?" Ignatius asked, "Do you have a break period?"

Raven leaned in, "Somewhere the security won't hear?"

Huyo startled for a little, but she quickly recovered. Thinking on her feet, she leaned in and placed another napkin on the table.

As she did, she whispered to Raven, "He's not security."

Raven startled but she tried not to show it. Huyo just put on that dazzling smile. "Alright you two, just let me know if you need another." With that. Huyo sashayed back to the bar, leaving Raven and Ignatius staring blankly at each other.

"Who is he?" Raven hissed.

"The owner maybe?" Ignatius guessed, "Or someone... worse?"

Placing her hands flat on the table, Raven came to a conclusion. "There's only one way to find out." She declared as she lifted herself up to her feet.

"Raven no!" Ignatius cried out, but it was too late.

Raven stood from the booth and swung her black dress around her, making a purposeful strut towards the mystery man in the corner. Her eyes were laser focused on him, hoping she could tell more details the closer she got. But, sensing the impending Ms. Mattel, the man suddenly moved away, slipping behind a table and making a fast exit towards the back of the room.

"Hey!" Raven called out, startling the quiet of the lounge, who looked to her with both surprise and disdain.

The man quickly dashed through the bar - not towards the transporters at the entryway but instead to a backroom. The door slid open, and he disappeared behind it. Raven hiked up her dress and started running towards the door as it started to slowly close again. She was worried that it was about to shut before she could get there. But, thinking on his feet, Ignatius had reached the doorway first and used his black cane to stop the door from closing.

"What are you doing?!" Huyo called out from the bar, "You can't go back there!"

"Sorry darling!" Raven shouted as she reached Ignatius and between the two of them, they pushed the sliding door back open again.

Inside they found a long corridor, and at the end there was a marked emergency exit door that appeared to lead outside. The duo ran towards the door together, their fancy attire not slowing them down. They burst through the exit and into an alleyway that was below street level. Raven pulled up her skirt again and the two raced up the stairs into the street.

Raven and Ignatius found themselves in the same empty lot they had entered Destiny from - they had exited from a building to the rear of the plot. They could see the back of the entry pod sitting in the middle of the concrete square.

"What?" Raven gasped for breath, "I thought we transported to somewhere else in Risa."

"Evidently... not..." Ignatius gasped, realizing once again why he was not a Starfleet officer. He leant forwards with his hands on his knees, staring at the ground.

Raven looked around but could only see the darkened city street, she sighed loudly, "I don't see him. He's gone!"

Ignatius nodded before looking up. He saw a shadow move near the entry pod. "THERE!" He cried out.

With a second wind of adrenaline, they ran towards the entry, just in time to see the mystery man clearly now. He was all in black with a round black helmet and he was bending over. Raven and Ignatius rushed up to him. They didn't have a plan, or an idea what they would do if they found him - they were unarmed, untrained civilians - but that had never stopped them before.

"YOU!" Raven practically screamed at him. "STOP!"

But as they got closer, Raven noticed why the mystery man was crouching and looking at the ground. More, she noticed *who* he was looking at. Captain Nyx was on the ground in front of him, lying unconscious as the mystery man pulled a hypospray away from the captain's neck. She pulled urgently at Ignatius' blazer and pointed his attention to the ground.

"Nyx!" Ignatius called out. His impulse was to intervene and try to push the man away from Temple, but the assailant was already ahead of them. In his other hand was a black phaser and he held it up clearly to the duo, stopping Raven and Ignatius in their tracks.

"Get away from him!" Raven growled despite the danger.

"You won't intervene." The man replied, his robotic voice delivering an eerily assured message. "This is his journey now."

"He's breathing," Ignatius murmured as he saw the captain's chest rise and fall.

"You were the porter at the hotel, weren't you?" Raven accused, "You gave us the directions to Destiny. Why? So we'd find Mindo or so we can stand by and watch you take Nyx?"

The man stood and shook his head, returning the phaser to his side, "So that you could tell the others that the Captain was fine. That you need not worry about his fate. You will reunite with him again, soon."

Ignatius threw up an accusatory finger, "If you so much as harm a hair on him, you'll have more than Starfleet to answer to!"

The man chuckled. "I am aware. But perhaps you aren't as removed from Starfleet as you think."

The duo looked at each other in confusion. Raven turned back to answer the man, but he crouched down again, placing a hand upon Nyx's shoulder. In a flash they disappeared, leaving Raven and Ignatius alone once more.

[The Morning After]

Reaching the lobby of their hotel, the befuddled and angry Raven looked around for the concierge. A short Risian male appeared with a calming smile.

"How may I assist you?" He cheerily asked.

"We need to check out and arrange transport back to our shuttle." Raven huffed. "Pronto!"

Ignatius was too busy looking inside his carry case to check on his dress to scold Raven for her rudeness.

"Very well," The Risian smiled, "I hope your stay was pleasurable."

"It was, then it wasn't." Raven replied sharply. "Yet again, I cannot wait to leave this planet."

If the concierge was offended by Raven's tone, he didn't show it. He kept that practiced customer service smile on his face as he drifted away to fulfill their request.

"It's not his fault, you know." Ignatius spoke distractedly. "Being pissy at him isn't going to change anything."

"I just want to get out of here." Raven groaned, "We were there, we could have done something to stop him from taking Nyx."

Ignatius shook his head, "We would've been shot trying, Raven. That wouldn't have helped. We're just civilians, we don't have the capacity to intervene. We were crazy trying to chase him out of Destiny like that."

"That man deliberately involved us in his little plot, Iggy," Raven said testily, "Clearly we're part of this, too. But..." She sighed, knowing that Ignatius was speaking the truth. Even if she was offended by being called just a civilian - she thought they deserved more recognition than that, but they were not trained officers. "You're right. We couldn't have stopped him..." She mused on that thought before pursing her lips. "Not yet, anyway."

"Now what does that mean?" Ignatius asked, before looking over to her with quiet alarm.

"I don't want to go back to Earth." Raven announced suddenly. She began to look around for the concierge again. "Not yet. I have something else in mind. Tell Mindo they can leave without us."

"But my dress, my show?" Ignatius protested, indicating to his special case. "I have a deadline!"

"Trust me, darling," Raven finally put a smile on her face, "We have to see an old friend first."

OFF