TBG Omake - Absent Friends
Nov. 9th, 2017 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanithryudoAN: This is an omake fanfic of a Quest (fanfic) called To Boldly Go, based primarily on Star Trek.
For once, this is an omake with only canon characters, no OCs. It came about when we assigned Commodore Saavik to head a task force that got into a fight. They won (narrowly), with only 1 ship lost. Unfortunately, the destroyed ship was the flagship of the TF, the USS Kumari, and it was destroyed by a warp core breach. Meaning, everyone died on it, including our flag officer. Kinda sad, since we've sent out task forces to fight before with OCs at the head, and they all made it though. I guess Saavik has just had awful luck by the dice rolls throughout this game-quest.
Anyway, after seeing the combat results, I originally wanted to write an omake on Spock's reaction to what happened. Unfortunately, it turned out that trying to write Vulcan grief was like bashing my head against a wall, so I gave up and went for easier pickings. As it turned out, the career timeline of our current Commander of Starfleet, Sulu, jived really well with Saavik's career timeline. So, this fic happened.
Absent Friends
“Go ahead and put it on the stack, Nyota.” The most powerful man in Starfleet responded perfunctorily to the steps approaching his desk, not even looking up from his typing.
He was answered, however, by an unexpected voice.
“They work the lot of you like dogs, eh?”
Hikaru Sulu looked up in pleased surprise, as a old friend dropped into the chair in front of his desk. Two small glasses were promptly set onto the table between them with a soft clink, followed by the popping of a cork.
“Pavel!” Sulu greeted with a rueful grin. “What brings you here? Did one of your cadets manage to offend another colonial government?”
“Funny, Admiral,” Chekov scoffed. “But, I think you’re just jealous that I still get to go home every day at a decent hour instead of this…” He waved the bottle he was holding at the nearby chronometer, which indicated that it was indeed late night by the standard day cycle, before pouring generously into the glasses. “I’m surprised you’re still married.”
“Says the man who’s still a bachelor,” Sulu shot back with a roll of his eyes. He reached over to pick up one of the glasses and examined it. “Vodka?”
“What else?” the Russian confirmed. He raised his own glass. “To absent friends.”
The smile slowly faded from Sulu’s face at those words, to be replaced by an expression of melancholy. “Absent friends,” he murmured softly.
Their glasses clinked, and there was a long moment of silence while both men became lost in memories. At length, Sulu broke the silence first.
“She was the last captain I approved back when I was in Explorer Command, you know,” the admiral reminisced. “One of those rare EC captains that got promoted right in from an XO position without doing time as a captain in the regular fleet.”
“Just like ol’ Jim Kirk,” Chekov said the words that both of them were thinking. “Remember, way back when on the Enterprise? I hear she followed his every move like a hawk, questioned everything he did. So much so the Admiral joked to Mr. Spock that he raised a shark who was gunning for his chair.”
Sulu chuckled at the younger man’s horrible impersonation of Kirk. “She had an impeccable record, and anyone who has eyes could tell she was driven.” He sighed. “There were a couple of times I worried that I might’ve been too hasty giving her the S’harien. But, she always came through in the end...”
“Hm, I know how that is,” the former captain of the Endurance grunted with a wince, remembering his own bloody experience in the Gabriel Expanse.
“...And unlike many other captains in the fleet, she actually pursued flag rank after her five year term,” Sulu finished, with somewhat forced levity. He twirled the glass of vodka before downing the rest of the shot.
“Now that is unnatural,” Chekov flowed with the joke as he refilled both of their empty glasses. “Here I thought you were the one who lured her into the clutches of HQ with your wily ways.”
“I invoke the seventh guarantee on that,” the former head of Starfleet Tactical quipped right back. Then he paused and sighed again, picking up his glass and staring into the clear liquid. “She did good work there. Lathriss mentioned he was thinking about putting her up for promotion before this whole mess with the Eternal Empire happened.”
“That’s warp speed in career development, for a Vulcan,” Chekov noted with surprise, putting down his once-more empty glass and refilling it again. “Maybe it was your chair she was really gunning for.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” the admiral huffed. He downed his second shot as well, and allowed Chekov to refill it, but made no move to pick up the glass again. “I’m not surprised,” Sulu murmured again, sadly. “I wish I could say otherwise. But I knew the numbers when we put together Burgundy. Honestly, we were damn lucky to do as well as we did.”
“Then she knew same the numbers,” Chekov told him confidently. “And she made them work.” He paused, then quietly confessed, “I wondered, you know. What I’d have done in her place. You can’t tell me my name wasn’t on the list for that task force.”
“Pavel…” Sulu trailed off, for once unsure how to respond.
“I know, I know, I’ve already heard it from Nyota,” Chekov waved him off. “But I do think that I wouldn’t have done as well as she had. So, if anything, I think we should be proud.”
“Oh, I am proud,” Sulu immediately agreed, “--of her, and of everyone on that task force. Everyone. No matter what I’m going to hear from the Council tomorrow.” His fingers tapped meaningfully on the padd in front of him.
Chekov frowned at the emphasis in that last statement. “You’re not planning on falling on that ridiculous sword of yours, are you?” he asked suspiciously.
“If need be. What are swords for?” Sulu answered with a serene smile this time. “I was already on the way out anyway. I don’t mind doing so with a flair.”
Chekov shook his head to rid himself of the incongruous mental image of his friend showing up to the next Federation Council session half-naked and waving a sword. “Where do you plan to go from here, anyway?” he asked, trying to change the subject.
Sulu leaned back in his chair and stared inscrutably up at the ceiling, his hands steepled before him in a familiar gesture picked up from their mutual Vulcan friend. “Oh, I have a few ideas. Maybe I’ll take some vacation time on Risa.”
“Risa,” Chekov repeated skeptically.
“I’ve got four years worth of late hours to make up to my wife, after all,” Sulu defended himself with a secretive smile.
“Fine, don’t tell me,” Chekov said, rolling his eyes at his cryptic friend. “I’ll just get it out of Nyota, eventually.”
“Speaking of Nyota,” Sulu paused as the belated thought occurred to him. “I was surprised she didn’t come in to join us. But she’s left, hasn’t she?”
Chekov laughed outright at that. “You’re losing your touch. We both know who she’s gone to see.”
Quest Timeline Reference:
2306.Q1 Sulu appointed to RA, Director of Starfleet Explorer Command
2308.Q1 First reference to Saavik as XO of USS Sarek under Captain Straak
2309.Q1 Start of Saavik’s 5YM as captain of the USS S’harien
2309.Q2 Sulu promoted to VA, Director of Starfleet Tactical
2313.Q4 End of Saavik’s 5YM on USS S’harien
2314.Q1 Saavik assigned to Starfleet Tactical
2314.Q4 Saavik promoted to Commodore
2316.Q1 Hikaru Sulu appointed Commander Starfleet
2319.Q2 Eternal Empire arc begins
2320.Q2 Battle of Exar Draconis; USS Kumari destroyed
2320.Q4 Sulu expected to step down as Commander Starfleet
For once, this is an omake with only canon characters, no OCs. It came about when we assigned Commodore Saavik to head a task force that got into a fight. They won (narrowly), with only 1 ship lost. Unfortunately, the destroyed ship was the flagship of the TF, the USS Kumari, and it was destroyed by a warp core breach. Meaning, everyone died on it, including our flag officer. Kinda sad, since we've sent out task forces to fight before with OCs at the head, and they all made it though. I guess Saavik has just had awful luck by the dice rolls throughout this game-quest.
Anyway, after seeing the combat results, I originally wanted to write an omake on Spock's reaction to what happened. Unfortunately, it turned out that trying to write Vulcan grief was like bashing my head against a wall, so I gave up and went for easier pickings. As it turned out, the career timeline of our current Commander of Starfleet, Sulu, jived really well with Saavik's career timeline. So, this fic happened.
“Go ahead and put it on the stack, Nyota.” The most powerful man in Starfleet responded perfunctorily to the steps approaching his desk, not even looking up from his typing.
He was answered, however, by an unexpected voice.
“They work the lot of you like dogs, eh?”
Hikaru Sulu looked up in pleased surprise, as a old friend dropped into the chair in front of his desk. Two small glasses were promptly set onto the table between them with a soft clink, followed by the popping of a cork.
“Pavel!” Sulu greeted with a rueful grin. “What brings you here? Did one of your cadets manage to offend another colonial government?”
“Funny, Admiral,” Chekov scoffed. “But, I think you’re just jealous that I still get to go home every day at a decent hour instead of this…” He waved the bottle he was holding at the nearby chronometer, which indicated that it was indeed late night by the standard day cycle, before pouring generously into the glasses. “I’m surprised you’re still married.”
“Says the man who’s still a bachelor,” Sulu shot back with a roll of his eyes. He reached over to pick up one of the glasses and examined it. “Vodka?”
“What else?” the Russian confirmed. He raised his own glass. “To absent friends.”
The smile slowly faded from Sulu’s face at those words, to be replaced by an expression of melancholy. “Absent friends,” he murmured softly.
Their glasses clinked, and there was a long moment of silence while both men became lost in memories. At length, Sulu broke the silence first.
“She was the last captain I approved back when I was in Explorer Command, you know,” the admiral reminisced. “One of those rare EC captains that got promoted right in from an XO position without doing time as a captain in the regular fleet.”
“Just like ol’ Jim Kirk,” Chekov said the words that both of them were thinking. “Remember, way back when on the Enterprise? I hear she followed his every move like a hawk, questioned everything he did. So much so the Admiral joked to Mr. Spock that he raised a shark who was gunning for his chair.”
Sulu chuckled at the younger man’s horrible impersonation of Kirk. “She had an impeccable record, and anyone who has eyes could tell she was driven.” He sighed. “There were a couple of times I worried that I might’ve been too hasty giving her the S’harien. But, she always came through in the end...”
“Hm, I know how that is,” the former captain of the Endurance grunted with a wince, remembering his own bloody experience in the Gabriel Expanse.
“...And unlike many other captains in the fleet, she actually pursued flag rank after her five year term,” Sulu finished, with somewhat forced levity. He twirled the glass of vodka before downing the rest of the shot.
“Now that is unnatural,” Chekov flowed with the joke as he refilled both of their empty glasses. “Here I thought you were the one who lured her into the clutches of HQ with your wily ways.”
“I invoke the seventh guarantee on that,” the former head of Starfleet Tactical quipped right back. Then he paused and sighed again, picking up his glass and staring into the clear liquid. “She did good work there. Lathriss mentioned he was thinking about putting her up for promotion before this whole mess with the Eternal Empire happened.”
“That’s warp speed in career development, for a Vulcan,” Chekov noted with surprise, putting down his once-more empty glass and refilling it again. “Maybe it was your chair she was really gunning for.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” the admiral huffed. He downed his second shot as well, and allowed Chekov to refill it, but made no move to pick up the glass again. “I’m not surprised,” Sulu murmured again, sadly. “I wish I could say otherwise. But I knew the numbers when we put together Burgundy. Honestly, we were damn lucky to do as well as we did.”
“Then she knew same the numbers,” Chekov told him confidently. “And she made them work.” He paused, then quietly confessed, “I wondered, you know. What I’d have done in her place. You can’t tell me my name wasn’t on the list for that task force.”
“Pavel…” Sulu trailed off, for once unsure how to respond.
“I know, I know, I’ve already heard it from Nyota,” Chekov waved him off. “But I do think that I wouldn’t have done as well as she had. So, if anything, I think we should be proud.”
“Oh, I am proud,” Sulu immediately agreed, “--of her, and of everyone on that task force. Everyone. No matter what I’m going to hear from the Council tomorrow.” His fingers tapped meaningfully on the padd in front of him.
Chekov frowned at the emphasis in that last statement. “You’re not planning on falling on that ridiculous sword of yours, are you?” he asked suspiciously.
“If need be. What are swords for?” Sulu answered with a serene smile this time. “I was already on the way out anyway. I don’t mind doing so with a flair.”
Chekov shook his head to rid himself of the incongruous mental image of his friend showing up to the next Federation Council session half-naked and waving a sword. “Where do you plan to go from here, anyway?” he asked, trying to change the subject.
Sulu leaned back in his chair and stared inscrutably up at the ceiling, his hands steepled before him in a familiar gesture picked up from their mutual Vulcan friend. “Oh, I have a few ideas. Maybe I’ll take some vacation time on Risa.”
“Risa,” Chekov repeated skeptically.
“I’ve got four years worth of late hours to make up to my wife, after all,” Sulu defended himself with a secretive smile.
“Fine, don’t tell me,” Chekov said, rolling his eyes at his cryptic friend. “I’ll just get it out of Nyota, eventually.”
“Speaking of Nyota,” Sulu paused as the belated thought occurred to him. “I was surprised she didn’t come in to join us. But she’s left, hasn’t she?”
Chekov laughed outright at that. “You’re losing your touch. We both know who she’s gone to see.”
Quest Timeline Reference:
2306.Q1 Sulu appointed to RA, Director of Starfleet Explorer Command
2308.Q1 First reference to Saavik as XO of USS Sarek under Captain Straak
2309.Q1 Start of Saavik’s 5YM as captain of the USS S’harien
2309.Q2 Sulu promoted to VA, Director of Starfleet Tactical
2313.Q4 End of Saavik’s 5YM on USS S’harien
2314.Q1 Saavik assigned to Starfleet Tactical
2314.Q4 Saavik promoted to Commodore
2316.Q1 Hikaru Sulu appointed Commander Starfleet
2319.Q2 Eternal Empire arc begins
2320.Q2 Battle of Exar Draconis; USS Kumari destroyed
2320.Q4 Sulu expected to step down as Commander Starfleet
