Checking in
Posted on Tue May 5th, 2026 @ 3:22pm by Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros & Major Edmund Merrick
Edited on on Sun May 10th, 2026 @ 1:27am
1,582 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 17 - Going Home
Location: The Garden Cube - Deck 10 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD005 1700 hrs
Its been a few days since the battle upon Wren IX, Edmund had time to start to unwind and try to sort out things that had been experienced. He got the notion to go check on Ja'sol after all they became brothers as both Marine and Fleet combined as on entity to save a race from another entity that had no business being in their realm. Plus there was also something that he'd not taken the chance to talk with Ja'sol and that was when the department heads had been swept into the pocket dimension when Rowena was possessed by another entity.
He sent off a message to Ja'sol.
"Hey Ja'sol, where are you located and do you have time to do some conversing? Its been way too long since we've talked."
"Hey Edmund, I'm in the Gym hitting the free weights currently, Do you want me to meet you somewhere? If so Give me about fifteen minutes to shower and change, Unless it's important and has to deal with the ship."
"Fifteen minutes is fine, I'll be in the garden cube. It has been awhile since I was there, since its opening. Nice place for a bit of greenery."
Edmund was there waiting for Ja'sol, taking a look at the plants there, finding a ripe strawberry that he plucked and popped it in his mouth, enjoying the fresh taste of it. It also did help to bring about a peacefulness to the soul.
" Edmund my brother, how have you been? It has indeed been a while since we last talked, The duties of being a department head keeps one busy. So what would you like to talk about? "
Turning to face Ja'sol, Edmund gave a smile and clasped his forearm as what brother in arms normally did. "Good to see you my brother, well what I'd like to talk about is the past two missions that the Pioneer had faced. The first one being that when-- the chief of intelligence, Commander McGowan was taken over by that entity and all of the department heads disappeared, except for her and the Commodore. " He moved towards a more isolated area of the garden cube taking a seat upon one of the benches there.
"That has been troubling me as to what happened." Edmund responded.
A dark shadow passed over Ja'sol's face briefly, His face taking on a very serious nature. " That is something that will never leave my memory, not even after my death. I went to see her and advise her about what was currently happening aboard the ship, when we moved to a more private area to discuss the situation something felt off and very wrong. She turned and gloated and raised her hand in attack, I fired my phaser on heavy stun and then vanished and wound up in that damn pocket dimension until we escaped and returned to the real Pioneer."
Edmund winced as he remembered not finding Ja'sol when he looked for him. "That was a rather unpleasant thing that happened. And it not only hurt others but did cause her a lot of difficulties." Changing the subject from that to the next thing in line. "How are you doing after the battle for the Silence?"
Ja'sol was pleased for a change of subject, As it wasn't something he was ready to discuss as of yet. " The tendon in my right shoulder was cut, but our medical staff did an excellent job in repairing it. It's still a little tender but it is getting better. How about you? You don't look any worse for wear."
"I seem to have not had much trouble injury wise. I wrenched my shoulder got hit by a boot to the head." Edmund winced, "It did make me see spots and stars. The ironic part was that it had been Colonel Tremble's leg, that the entity ripped off of him and had hit me with. Another piece of irony I did bring it back, not knowing who it belonged to. I found out when I got to medical wanting to check to see about those injured."
Edmund frowned a bit, "Tremble took the worse beating, of all of us."
Ja'sol raised an eyebrow. " Tremble is a tough bird, I bet that the creature that tore his leg off suffered and died three days later from that. It's not like they couldn't clone him a new leg or repair and reattach it for him, heck I even heard that they can even clone and transplant a sense of humor into Vulcans nowadays."
Edmund raised an eyebrow about the humor part where a Vulcan was concerned. He decided to let that piece of bad humor just... float away.
"Yes, Tremble is pretty tough, but that was way too close for my liking." Edmund responded grimly, remembering what Neil had asked him to do if things really went sideways. Changing to another subject.
"What do you think about our heading to Earth for shoreleave, what do you plan on doing when we get there?"
Ja'sol thought for a long moment. " I'm not really sure to be honest. I might go and visit the Philippine Islands because they remind me of home, Or I might even dig a hole in the sand and bury myself under a pyramid in Egypt, So somewhere in between those two thoughts is where I'll most likely find myself. I am not really sure of what I will do when we get there."
"I plan on going to see family, and do some surfing, plus some sailing. Mum will probably be planning a family dinner as she likes to do when I come home on shoreleave. Its been a while." Edmund mused. "And maybe go see my in laws, I need to try to get things settled there. Its been weighing on my mind. Ever since my wife died, things have been. not good."
" I'm sorry for your loss Edmund. I know it couldn't have been easy for you with an event like that in your life." He paused briefly. " All I know was it was in the line of duty, So she was a credit to her ship and to Starfleet."
"Indeed she was, and it was rough being there when she died, for the longest while I mourned her and shut myself off from well connecting with others." he went silent for a moment. "but that is at an end."
Edmund taking a seat beside Ja'sol "To change the subject. After that last mission we were on, I was thinking about having security and the marines train together. Just to get us familiar with each other's tactics. We managed to pull things off on Wren IX, and we were lucky, extremely lucky to get through that. You became family, facing a battle together."
Ja'sol rubbed his chin and pondered a moment. "Your suggestion has merit Edmund, It's not like we can have backup pop up and come sweeping in like the calvary. So we're going to have to depend on each other to get the job done and protect the ship together."
"Granted, you have the protection of the ship in the inside, and when chips get really messy, we come in. Still though, there does need to be more unity when we might be asked to be a collective team."
A thought crossed his mind. "Have you sent out the promised drinks you had mentioned when we fought those tacky Borg?"
Ja'sol blinked. "Of course I did, It was no more then eight hours after we got back to the ship. When someone does me a solid and comes in like they did to help us out like that, Your damn right I pay it forward like I promised, they deserved it for the work they did."
"You do know you are a bit of an enigma to most of us. Not many know about your people." Edmund remarked. "Myself included." giving a slight smile. "Definitely need to get yourself out there, what do you think?"
Ja'sol mused over the comment long and deliberate, keeping Edmund in some suspense. He could feel the man's interest in his people. Moments ticked by, Ja'sol picking up on Edmund's curiosity peaking.
As he took in the garden cube and its contents, with a slight grin, Ja'sol spoke. "I'll consider it."
Edmund wondered for a moment if Ja'sol was just going to leave him hanging as to the answer. He gave out a slight huff, then a chuckle.
"Ja'sol..." Edmund stood up from the bench they were seated upon, gave a firm pat on the chief of security's shoulder. "Let's make certain that you do go out and get to know the rest of the crew, not that I'm the boss of you, but, from one friend to another. It needs to happen. For now, I've got to get going, and thank you for meeting with me."
Edmund turned to make his way out of the Garden Cube.
Ja'sol watched as Edmund left, giving a chuckle. He settled himself in a lotus position, closing his eyes. It was time for meditation, and this was a good place to do so.
A Joint Post By
Major Edmund Merrick
Company Commanding Officer Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros
Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
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