Hope

Posted on Fri Nov 8th, 2024 @ 1:32pm by Captain Nycolas Temple

Mission: The Only Thing Left Was Hope
Location: Jaros II
Timeline: After "Velocity Jumps"

ON:

Nyx had spent hours upon hours practicing with his new velocity suit, jumping from further distances each time on the remote planet. Once he felt confident enough, he took his shuttle up into the atmosphere and completed a successful return jump from there too. He kept moving the craft further away from the planet, testing the limits of his transporting abilities until he felt that he could handle it.

Back in the cockpit of his shuttle, Nyx initially started to set course for Earth. He wanted to leave Emilie a message to let her know that he was okay, before he embarked on his solo mission to find the Pandora. He also considered turning back for Risa, hoping to catch up with Mindo as well, so that he could let his friends know that the mystery man was, apparently, on their side and that he was working for them now.

It wasn't until he started looking at his stellar cartography that he realized he was near somewhere important.

Somewhere that could potentially give him some answers...

[Jaros II Federation Penal Colony]

Former Starfleet Admiral, former Section 31 leader, former Pithos director, and one-time Admiral Francis cosplayer, Thaddeus Thac moved about in the darkness of his cell. He had just awoken abruptly from a nightmare - the usual dream where the planet dissolved underneath his feet and he fell to his untimely death. Waking up in a panic, Thac had sat bolt upright in his cell, panting and out of breath. With a groan, he didn't bother to turn on the lights as he moved over to the sink and splashed some water on his face. He hoped this would calm down his overheated body.

The chronometer by his bed showed the time - 4am on Jaros. In two hours, he would be awoken to start his day of servitude to the penal colony. He worked in the gardens outside, underneath the blistering hot sun, planting crops that would feed the prison. Today would be just like every other day for the past three years - Hot, dry, hard. He had several lifetimes to go - one each for every life lost on Hesiod Green and Pithos - of having the same day on Jaros. Hot, dry, hard. That was all he was ever going to know from now on.

As he stood over the small sink in the corner of his cell, Thac gave a quiet sigh. In the dim light from outside, he could see the damage the sun had done to his skin in the mirror, making it leathery, red, and worn. Once upon a time he was a confident man in his early forties, now he looked prematurely sixty. The years had been unkind to his appearance - not that he had any reason to be concerned about that. He was going to toil on this planet until he died alone.

It took Thac a minute to distinguish the shadowy figure sitting in the corner of his cell, shrouded in darkness. When he did, Thac went through a mix of emotions. Fear, excitement, dread, confusion. Feelings he had not known for three years. For a moment he felt hope - that maybe this day would be different, that his toil on Jaros may come to an end. But that feeling of hope was fleeting and it left him like a soft deflating breath. Thac just sighed, sadly.

"If you've come to kill me, you have about five minutes." Thac said gravely, "Before the guards come to arrest you. I assume they've already detected you."

"I have not come to kill you. And no guards will be coming." Came the voice, distorted by the black helmet he was wearing. "I have questions."

"You've come all this way to Jaros, violated Federation law by entering their prison facility to... ask questions?" Thac scoffed. "I don't believe you."

"Killing you would be pointless, you're already dead." The voice returned quickly.

Thac opened his mouth to speak, then gave a shrug of indifferent agreement. For all intents and purposes, Thac's life was over. He held no value to the Federation or Section 31 anymore. In the days after he got to Jaros, he wondered if Section 31 were going to come rescue him, or to come kill him like they probably did to Admiral Vincent. But instead, they just left him here to be forgotten. He had soon given up any notion of being rescued. "I suppose you're right. Is there any point in asking who you are?"

"A person with questions." Temple answered unhelpfully. There was a little part of him that enjoyed having the leverage now, for Thac to not know who he really was, instead of the other way around.

"You must have some sophisticated tech to be able to get into my cell undetected." Thac pondered, trying to see into the darkness to gauge a better view. He started to muse out loud, partly because he was intrigued by this visitor and partly because the longer that they talked, the more likely it would be that Jaros would detect him. Assuming the mystery visitor could be detected, that is. He had to know. "You could be 31, but they don't really come to question, they come to kill. And I don't know if Starfleet Intelligence has this kind of ability to hide yourself like this."

"I'm a ghost with questions." Temple retorted.

At this, Thac chortled, "Just what I need. Visits from ghosts." Thac leaned against the sink and folded his arms across his chest, "So, I'm sure you're here to find out about my trial. You'll be happy to know that I denied all knowledge of 31, if that's what you've come for. Lied through my teeth, said 31 was a myth, that I acted alone. The usual. My testimony was likely sealed so you'll have to find out what I said for yourself. I can't help you with that, I have tomatoes to grow in the morning."

The mystery man shook his head, "No. I don't care about that. I want to know about the Pandora."

Thac stood upright and glared at the shadowy figure. "THAT SHIP?!" He spat. "I hate them!"

"What did 31 want with the Pandora?" Temple asked, unphased by Thac's opinion of his ship.

"To use them, like 31 uses everyone for their own goals." Thac hissed, "They thought the captain and crew could be persuaded to assist me. And if the Pandora had just come and rescued me like they were supposed to, I wouldn't be here right now."

"But what did they want with the ship itself?" Temple pressed.

"The ship?" Thac looked confused, screwing up his face in disagreement. "Nothing. Who gives a damn about a Luna class vessel? The Pandora just happened to be in the right area to help me. Their ship was nothing special."

"No one thought there was something to gain from capturing the Pandora?" Temple asked, trying not to sound disbelieving, despite how much he didn't really believe Thac. "Taking her out of the equation?"

"Last I knew, 31 believed the Pandora crew were deemed too much trouble to deal with." Thac shrugged, "The crew made their choice to stick to Starfleet like the blind followers that they are. I'm sure they're back out there in the Expanse following orders like usual." Thac's tone was spiteful and twisted, showing there was nothing he hated more than those who adhered to their duties - such were his own selfish priorities.

Inside his suit, Temple sighed a little, satisfied he had the answers he came for. He wanted to know if Section 31 would possibly be behind the Pandora's disappearance. Although Nyx would never wholly believe Thac's words, he did have a tendency to speak the truth about some situations - if it served him to do so. Temple also considered that Thac had been out of contact with 31 for three years, so he wouldn't know if they had changed their minds about the importance of the Pandora. Clearly, he thought the ship had returned to duty after dropping him off.

Whatever the truth might be, Nyx had nothing else to gain here. He raised up his arm to activate his control panel and prepared to leave.

"Why do you ask?" Thac inquired.

Temple paused, then shook his head, "Not for you to know."

"That ship is just like all the rest in Starfleet," Thac shrugged, "Weak, followers."

Something inside of Nyx stirred, a protest sparked in his mind, and he put down his control arm. "You're wrong. They didn't do what they did out of loyalty to Starfleet. They did it because the Expanse was not your plaything. You sullied the entirety of the Federation when you used that planet and endangered its people for your war experiments."

"The Federation!" Thac scoffed, "That swamp in the Palais de la Concorde? They have no idea what it takes to keep an inter-galactic alliance strong. They have done such a bad job of running the Federation. They let the Dominion invade Federation space and attack Earth. My father was..." Thac's tone was heavy for a moment, sorrowful, but then he snapped out of it with a firm shake of his head, "The Federation's weakness has prevented Starfleet from reaching their full potential. They've ruined a once great military, turned them into scientists and pacifists. If I was running Starfleet, we would yield to NO ONE!"

Temple took in a breath as he saw the fiery anger boil in Thac. This was his truth, his raw unfiltered opinion. The destruction of Pithos, almost dying on Hesiod, being abandoned by Section 31, spending three years on Jaros Penal Colony - none of this had tempered his true feelings of hatred and spite. No number of failings, or jail time, was going to convince him otherwise.

Nyx lowered his head a little. "I feel so sorry for you." He finally replied.

"Why?" Thac spat back incredulously.

"Because I see now that you've spent your life living in spite and hatred. You think you can change the Federation from who we are meant to be." Nyx said. "You want the Federation to be militant because you think that's the only way to achieve power. You want Starfleet to act like Section 31, to take 'extraordinary measures' and to win no matter the cost, because you can't conceive of a Starfleet that achieves through diplomacy, community, and... hope."

At this, Thac scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Hope?" He scoffed again for good measure. "You can't run the galaxy on hope."

"Of course you can." Nyx insisted. "Hope takes a war-torn planet away from the brink of destruction and propels them into conquering space travel. Hope binds a group of completely different species together to form a unified coalition of planets to explore the galaxy together, and to help each other. When the Pandora was trapped and surrounded in the depths of hell, behind enemy lines, the only thing left was hope. But that was enough to deliver them all home, safe and sound, back to the Federation again."

Thac looked perplexed at this outpouring of sentiment, but he didn't speak just yet, and Nyx continued, "You may have temporarily challenged that notion. You and Section 31 have tried to drag the Federation into your way of thinking. I have witnessed this, and I have been afraid of you because of it. Many have been swayed by your way of thinking. Starfleet command has many of its leaders who are willing to turn a blind eye to your beliefs and your practices, because they think it will work. But you're wrong."

"And how am I wrong?" Thac interjected.

"Because every time. Every god damn time, hope will prevail." Nyx answered firmly. "We will remember our goal is to better our planets and our people. We will remember that we are really here to protect each other and to help each other. Yes, there will be challenges to the Federation, both inside and out. But we will always achieve more through peace and cooperation than we ever will through war and spite. It may take time, but we always remember who we really are in the end. We will fight for what's right."

Thac turned back to look at himself in the mirror, his face still aged and burnt by the sun of his prison. "How naive."

"I'm sorry you won't get to see that, in here." Temple said sincerely. "I would want you to know what it feels like when hope prevails."

Thac closed his eyes, the weight of his life sentences weighing on his heart once more. "I... I..." He shook his head, "I... have entertained your presence enough. There's an emergency button to alert the guards. Even if you have somehow avoided detection by now, I am more than happy to alert them for you."

Temple raised up his arms, the jump controls coming back to life. Now he had everything that he needed, Temple gave a curt nod. "Goodbye, Thac."

In a flash the mystery man had disappeared, leaving Thac alone in his cell once again, and forever more.

OFF