From the Ashes
Nov 22, 2014 13:21:30 GMT -8
Lt. Commander Alyssa Jenison, Lieutenant Eden Nivans, and 3 more like this
Post by Lieutenant Robin Star on Nov 22, 2014 13:21:30 GMT -8
“You made it son.” Said the smiling face of Robin’s father, Admiral Owen Star who stood tall and proud with his arm around his wife. Commander Mary Star, a doctor and by all accounts an angel to many that almost slipped into that final good night but those that did slip too far were at least comforted by her healing presence. It was almost like they were the parents to all those that they came in contact with, always there to help, to provide guidance, to make sure that love never died.
“We,” Robin replied softly, already choking up. Even though the war was officially over, the weight of it all had yet to leave his shoulders, it had all happened so fast. Waking up from a coma on Earth, being interrogated by Starfleet Intelligence, pestering him with questions and claims of his disloyalty and what he had shared or not shared with the Klingons. It had all been a blur really, but somewhere in that madness his parents came to his side, his mother didn’t even need the authority of her husband to drive the interrogators away with a force of nature only a mother could bring to bare.
They stayed with him, his father ignoring what duties he could to make sure that Robin was never alone and his mother, always so patient except when it was time for him to eat. It was like being home again, the home he grew up with and it was the first time in a long time he had felt so warm and protected and that nothing could hurt him.
But even with all that love surrounding him, the nightmares continued to grapple his mind not only through the sleepless night but during the day as well. He would see things, he would see her replay the same actions as before, burning her flesh and walking away, again and again with every clang of her boots his heart shattered further.
“I want to protect you!” He would say, amongst other things but she never responded, she never came back after her back was turned.
When the hallucinations ceased and the images that plagued became less frequent, he was free to travel with his parents where they talked, laughed and smiled the days away. Eventually, Robin had to make a choice, to return to the Talon and face his fears of failing again or turn to a quiet on Earth or maybe Betazed.
But then the war came and it was clear, he had no choice and hoped that he would never have to see Kinin on the other side as an enemy. Every battle he wished that she wasn’t there, that he would not be responsible for the turn that would allow the tactical officer to line up that final barrage of torpedoes.
It was a brutal and unforgiving war and it was only now that people could truly see who and what had paid the price for there were no winners, only survivors and every one of them had suffered.
“Everyone in Starfleet knows that creating a family is risky business,” His mother began to say, “Never did we imagine the risks to be so much greater than what they were during the Dominion War.”
Owen nodded, “It was supposed to be peace time, and it was when we had you and you meant the universe to us. No gift was better than your biggest smile or that wayward look on your face always looking up at the sky and stars.”
“You don’t know this but we originally didn’t want you to join Starfleet, even if everything was well, we all know how quickly everything can flip upside down.” A sad smile appeared on Owen’s face but then his expression warmed as he let out a joyous laugh.
“We knew from then on how stubborn you’ll be to fly and that we wouldn’t be able stop you, you were always climbing the trees, the chimney, everything...”
Mary grinned and turned to Owen, “And then you went and got him that hover-shuttle to run over your friend with.”
Robin managed to smile but it was short-lived unlike Owen’s next laugh. “That never gets old.” He said with mirth in his eyes. “That man was convinced that you needed to be in Starfleet, it was exactly as we dreaded but that didn’t matter, you proved yourself then and you’ve done it many times since, you’ve made a difference.”
At this, Robin shook his head, “No, I’ve made things worse…” So many failures, broken promises, the revealed secrets...
“You’ve saved lives, you should be proud and I know that your father and I are proud of you.” Mary said as she smiled fondly at her son with a clenched hand pressed against her chest.
Robin was beginning to tremble now, his own hands curling into fists and his heart thumped louder against his ribcage. Why? he questioned to himself.
“Be happy that it’s over, it’s all we ever wanted for you…” Owen said before taking in a deep breath.
“It’s why I tried to pull you away from Starfleet after Crudaigh, after everything else. We were so worried, your mother was frantic over every medical report sent from the Talon, expecting the worse and sometimes it was worse…”
Those had been trying times for the family when father and son had been so far apart. Owen was often seen as the man that had the answers, the wisdom, the ability to lead others as a diplomat, a soldier, a friend but being a father was the hardest battle of all, especially knowing your son was out there living in such dangerous space… he wanted him home, safe and happy.
“But despite everything, you chose to remain with your crew, your friends and we respected your decision no matter how painful it was… but then you were taken.” This time there were tears in the eyes of Robin’s fathers.
“I wanted to dispatch the biggest fleet imaginable to track you down but the most I got was one ship and that’s all I needed but it wasn’t enough...” Owen paused, allowing himself to breath as he willed the tears to stop. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find you fast enough.”
Robin pursed his lips, his own eyes red from the building up of tears within, his whole body still trembling. “Don’t be, it’s my own damn fault.” Robin wanted to say but those words failed to form in his throat as his father continued.
“We were so frightened, we thought we lost you, even the doctors thought you would never wake up but your mother and I knew, you’re far too stubborn and we were right.” Owen smiled through the tears that fell from his eyes as his wife hugged him deeply from the side.
“It had been too long since we had seen your baby blues, and when you woke up it was happiest time we saw them other than when you were born.” Said Mary, her own face struggling to hide the tears that wanted to flow free. “You are our jewel and if we had to go through it all again for you, we would.”
It was too much to hear, he closed his eyes and shook his head.
Why? He asked himself again.
There was a brief silence and a quiet chuckle.
“Ya know, your mother is still waiting on that grandchild.” Owen joked with a wide grin, another ‘never gets old’ joke from the man. Mary playfully slapped her husband, “Don’t rush him, he’ll have plenty of time to settle now.”
But for Robin there were no smiles, no grins at the joke that had always embarrassed him, not today. Instead, it was only guilt.
And then, there was a low distant rumble that made his parents wobble on the spot as they looked around but Robin didn’t move, his eyes transfixed on his father and mother.
“No,” He breathed out.
“We have to go,” Owen said with a stern nod towards his wife before looking back towards Robin.
“Don’t.” Robin whispered, his voice barely audible.
“Remember this,” Mary gestured to her heart. “Your strength.”
Owen breathed, “We love you, Robin.”
“Stay…” Robin pleaded and his weakened legs managed to carry him one step forward and with it he reached out with his arm towards his parents. They seemed to ignore him as they smiled warmly at him and within the blink of an eye, they were gone, retreating back into the holoprojector that sat upon their graves.
Robin fell to his knees with his head bowed, tears streaming down his cheeks and his hands gripping uselessly at the grass beneath him in an attempt to get a grasp on the reality that his parents, his family was gone.
Why?
It was his fault, the Klingons had stripped his mind raw, gaining the knowledge of the starstreams and whilst it wasn’t everything, they took enough to use it against him, the Talon, Starfleet, the galaxy… his parents. They had so much life left in them, so many more souls to comfort, to lead…
Robin’s lips trembled, twitching as the taste of wet salt reached his mouth and oh how he wished it was his own blood so he could choke on it, drown and die so he could join his family. What they said about strength? It was a lie, there was nothing strong about him now. Weak, pathetic… alone.
And Robin remained alone in the cemetery for what felt like hours and eventually, Robin raised his head and coughed out a word which he repeated until the computer from the holoprojectors understood him. The pre-recorded program started again.
“If you’re watching this, you’ve made it son.” Owen said, smiling happily.
Robin closed his eyes and looked to the ground once more, he was so distracted that he didn’t hear the quiet foot falls approaching.
“Pause.” An old voice sounded and the recording stopped.
Robin opened his eyes, blinking rapidly before looking to the intruder of his privacy. He glared at the man, wearing a large pale hat, a loose white shirt some kind of overall attire, like a farmer.
“Go away,” Robin croaked.
The elderly man raised a white bushy eyebrow, “I should be telling you that, you’ve been here everyday, son.” He stepped forward and reached to squeeze Robin’s shoulder.
“You need to let go.”
Robin’s glowered at the man, hastily swiping his hand from his shoulder.
“I said go away,” Robin repeated, almost hissing. “It’s my choice.”
The man didn’t seem concerned by Robin’s aggressive response and instead merely straightened himself up and looked towards the paused image of the officer’s parents, both still smiling.
“And you know what? They made a choice as well.”
Robin frowned, following the man’s gaze to the faces that had been with him since the beginning. His father and mother did indeed make a choice, to join Starfleet despite the possible dangers, to be together… to have him as a son.
“I was at the funeral, many people knew your parents and they were deeply loved by many. So often they put others before themselves. They will be missed by everyone whose heart they touched.”
Robin cleared his throat, new tears forming in his eyes.
“They made that choice to be where they were on that day and I can bet you my hat that they didn’t regret anything, the least of all being you.” The old man repeated his action from before and this time, Robin did not shy away from it, he raised his own smooth hand to meet the wrinkled one.
“You have plenty of choices left to make, son… I’m sorry that your family won’t see them.”
Robin stared at the faces of his parents and then looked up to the baby blue sky, and even though it was impossible to see with the human eye, he saw the USS Talon in dry-dock. His gaze then turned to the city of San Francisco where he knew a call had been made from Kealan Monroe.
“No,” Robin began, “I still have a family.”
End Robin
“We,” Robin replied softly, already choking up. Even though the war was officially over, the weight of it all had yet to leave his shoulders, it had all happened so fast. Waking up from a coma on Earth, being interrogated by Starfleet Intelligence, pestering him with questions and claims of his disloyalty and what he had shared or not shared with the Klingons. It had all been a blur really, but somewhere in that madness his parents came to his side, his mother didn’t even need the authority of her husband to drive the interrogators away with a force of nature only a mother could bring to bare.
They stayed with him, his father ignoring what duties he could to make sure that Robin was never alone and his mother, always so patient except when it was time for him to eat. It was like being home again, the home he grew up with and it was the first time in a long time he had felt so warm and protected and that nothing could hurt him.
But even with all that love surrounding him, the nightmares continued to grapple his mind not only through the sleepless night but during the day as well. He would see things, he would see her replay the same actions as before, burning her flesh and walking away, again and again with every clang of her boots his heart shattered further.
“I want to protect you!” He would say, amongst other things but she never responded, she never came back after her back was turned.
When the hallucinations ceased and the images that plagued became less frequent, he was free to travel with his parents where they talked, laughed and smiled the days away. Eventually, Robin had to make a choice, to return to the Talon and face his fears of failing again or turn to a quiet on Earth or maybe Betazed.
But then the war came and it was clear, he had no choice and hoped that he would never have to see Kinin on the other side as an enemy. Every battle he wished that she wasn’t there, that he would not be responsible for the turn that would allow the tactical officer to line up that final barrage of torpedoes.
It was a brutal and unforgiving war and it was only now that people could truly see who and what had paid the price for there were no winners, only survivors and every one of them had suffered.
“Everyone in Starfleet knows that creating a family is risky business,” His mother began to say, “Never did we imagine the risks to be so much greater than what they were during the Dominion War.”
Owen nodded, “It was supposed to be peace time, and it was when we had you and you meant the universe to us. No gift was better than your biggest smile or that wayward look on your face always looking up at the sky and stars.”
“You don’t know this but we originally didn’t want you to join Starfleet, even if everything was well, we all know how quickly everything can flip upside down.” A sad smile appeared on Owen’s face but then his expression warmed as he let out a joyous laugh.
“We knew from then on how stubborn you’ll be to fly and that we wouldn’t be able stop you, you were always climbing the trees, the chimney, everything...”
Mary grinned and turned to Owen, “And then you went and got him that hover-shuttle to run over your friend with.”
Robin managed to smile but it was short-lived unlike Owen’s next laugh. “That never gets old.” He said with mirth in his eyes. “That man was convinced that you needed to be in Starfleet, it was exactly as we dreaded but that didn’t matter, you proved yourself then and you’ve done it many times since, you’ve made a difference.”
At this, Robin shook his head, “No, I’ve made things worse…” So many failures, broken promises, the revealed secrets...
“You’ve saved lives, you should be proud and I know that your father and I are proud of you.” Mary said as she smiled fondly at her son with a clenched hand pressed against her chest.
Robin was beginning to tremble now, his own hands curling into fists and his heart thumped louder against his ribcage. Why? he questioned to himself.
“Be happy that it’s over, it’s all we ever wanted for you…” Owen said before taking in a deep breath.
“It’s why I tried to pull you away from Starfleet after Crudaigh, after everything else. We were so worried, your mother was frantic over every medical report sent from the Talon, expecting the worse and sometimes it was worse…”
Those had been trying times for the family when father and son had been so far apart. Owen was often seen as the man that had the answers, the wisdom, the ability to lead others as a diplomat, a soldier, a friend but being a father was the hardest battle of all, especially knowing your son was out there living in such dangerous space… he wanted him home, safe and happy.
“But despite everything, you chose to remain with your crew, your friends and we respected your decision no matter how painful it was… but then you were taken.” This time there were tears in the eyes of Robin’s fathers.
“I wanted to dispatch the biggest fleet imaginable to track you down but the most I got was one ship and that’s all I needed but it wasn’t enough...” Owen paused, allowing himself to breath as he willed the tears to stop. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find you fast enough.”
Robin pursed his lips, his own eyes red from the building up of tears within, his whole body still trembling. “Don’t be, it’s my own damn fault.” Robin wanted to say but those words failed to form in his throat as his father continued.
“We were so frightened, we thought we lost you, even the doctors thought you would never wake up but your mother and I knew, you’re far too stubborn and we were right.” Owen smiled through the tears that fell from his eyes as his wife hugged him deeply from the side.
“It had been too long since we had seen your baby blues, and when you woke up it was happiest time we saw them other than when you were born.” Said Mary, her own face struggling to hide the tears that wanted to flow free. “You are our jewel and if we had to go through it all again for you, we would.”
It was too much to hear, he closed his eyes and shook his head.
Why? He asked himself again.
There was a brief silence and a quiet chuckle.
“Ya know, your mother is still waiting on that grandchild.” Owen joked with a wide grin, another ‘never gets old’ joke from the man. Mary playfully slapped her husband, “Don’t rush him, he’ll have plenty of time to settle now.”
But for Robin there were no smiles, no grins at the joke that had always embarrassed him, not today. Instead, it was only guilt.
And then, there was a low distant rumble that made his parents wobble on the spot as they looked around but Robin didn’t move, his eyes transfixed on his father and mother.
“No,” He breathed out.
“We have to go,” Owen said with a stern nod towards his wife before looking back towards Robin.
“Don’t.” Robin whispered, his voice barely audible.
“Remember this,” Mary gestured to her heart. “Your strength.”
Owen breathed, “We love you, Robin.”
“Stay…” Robin pleaded and his weakened legs managed to carry him one step forward and with it he reached out with his arm towards his parents. They seemed to ignore him as they smiled warmly at him and within the blink of an eye, they were gone, retreating back into the holoprojector that sat upon their graves.
Robin fell to his knees with his head bowed, tears streaming down his cheeks and his hands gripping uselessly at the grass beneath him in an attempt to get a grasp on the reality that his parents, his family was gone.
Why?
It was his fault, the Klingons had stripped his mind raw, gaining the knowledge of the starstreams and whilst it wasn’t everything, they took enough to use it against him, the Talon, Starfleet, the galaxy… his parents. They had so much life left in them, so many more souls to comfort, to lead…
Robin’s lips trembled, twitching as the taste of wet salt reached his mouth and oh how he wished it was his own blood so he could choke on it, drown and die so he could join his family. What they said about strength? It was a lie, there was nothing strong about him now. Weak, pathetic… alone.
And Robin remained alone in the cemetery for what felt like hours and eventually, Robin raised his head and coughed out a word which he repeated until the computer from the holoprojectors understood him. The pre-recorded program started again.
“If you’re watching this, you’ve made it son.” Owen said, smiling happily.
Robin closed his eyes and looked to the ground once more, he was so distracted that he didn’t hear the quiet foot falls approaching.
“Pause.” An old voice sounded and the recording stopped.
Robin opened his eyes, blinking rapidly before looking to the intruder of his privacy. He glared at the man, wearing a large pale hat, a loose white shirt some kind of overall attire, like a farmer.
“Go away,” Robin croaked.
The elderly man raised a white bushy eyebrow, “I should be telling you that, you’ve been here everyday, son.” He stepped forward and reached to squeeze Robin’s shoulder.
“You need to let go.”
Robin’s glowered at the man, hastily swiping his hand from his shoulder.
“I said go away,” Robin repeated, almost hissing. “It’s my choice.”
The man didn’t seem concerned by Robin’s aggressive response and instead merely straightened himself up and looked towards the paused image of the officer’s parents, both still smiling.
“And you know what? They made a choice as well.”
Robin frowned, following the man’s gaze to the faces that had been with him since the beginning. His father and mother did indeed make a choice, to join Starfleet despite the possible dangers, to be together… to have him as a son.
“I was at the funeral, many people knew your parents and they were deeply loved by many. So often they put others before themselves. They will be missed by everyone whose heart they touched.”
Robin cleared his throat, new tears forming in his eyes.
“They made that choice to be where they were on that day and I can bet you my hat that they didn’t regret anything, the least of all being you.” The old man repeated his action from before and this time, Robin did not shy away from it, he raised his own smooth hand to meet the wrinkled one.
“You have plenty of choices left to make, son… I’m sorry that your family won’t see them.”
Robin stared at the faces of his parents and then looked up to the baby blue sky, and even though it was impossible to see with the human eye, he saw the USS Talon in dry-dock. His gaze then turned to the city of San Francisco where he knew a call had been made from Kealan Monroe.
“No,” Robin began, “I still have a family.”
End Robin