SubAccount: Mondo'li Nari

[Deck 10 - Phaser Range]

Deck 10 - Phaser Range

The phaser range of the USS Challenger was divided into two sections.  The first section was a traditional, old-fashioned range with a long series of programmable lanes where officers and crew could practice their weapon handling and precision against fixed targets.  The second section contained a 360 degree quick-response chamber where dynamic, floating spheres of light circled a shooter.  Each was tailored to different skillset development.

During alert conditions, or before away missions, the phaser range was shut down from its usual function.  Instead, rapid-response teams of security personnel were staged here.  Each officer was given equipment and assigned a lane where they could ready themselves for deployment.  A few paces up the hall in one direction was a transporter room.  A few paces up the hall in the other direction was a turbolift.  The security teams could be sent in either direction, depending on the need of the moment.

These rapid response teams were in addition to standard posts and patrols.  They were meant to reinforce areas of known incursion, allowing security personnel with fixed posts to continue guarding their assigned areas while the response teams performed site-to-site transports, took turbolifts, or even went to shuttles and airlocks in order to respond to emerging threats.

Mondo felt the ship shake as he checked his Type III phaser rifle.   His Type II phaser was already holstered at his hip, along with his personal PADD and tricorder.  A personal forcefield bracer would allow him to deploy a shield as needed.  The device might absorb a few disruptor or phaser blasts before succumbing to the inevitable.  The personal shields had frequently saved lives, not least his own.  The Hupyrian was glad they were coming into more widespread use in the fleet.

Once he'd checked his equipment, there was little he could do but wait.  Either the shields would go down, or they would not.  Either enemy forces would board the Challenger, or they would not.

"I saw you talking to Helga," a voice called out from the adjacent firing lane.  It was Petty Officer Blackfeather, a Human descended from one of Earth's North American 'Indian' tribes.  It had taken Mondo some time to understand that these people were distinct from another group of people called Indians on the other side of the planet.  Human nationalities and ancestries were often confusing.

"Yes," Mondo acknowledged, surprised at the comment.

"You two hooking up," the impertinent query followed.

Mondo frowned.  "No," he said simply.

"Oh, good.  I heard you two were beating on each other a while back, and I know that's how Klingons like it," Blackfeather said, "not really my style, but I figure no one would put up with that if it wasn't worth it, you know?"

Mondo glared at the wall that divided his lane from the next.  "I don't think it's appropriate to speculate."

"Whatever, man," Blackfeather responded, "I've been thinking of asking her out.  If you're not in the way, so to speak, then it's clear skies."

Mondo realized he was clenching his jaw.  "I am not in the way," he said, but it came out louder than he intended.

"She shot you down, huh?" Blackfeather chuckled, "Don't take it hard, man.  It happens to the best of us."

[USS Challenger - Enlisted Mess]

USS Challenger - Enlisted Mess

Mondo sensed her approach before she arrived.  He stiffened internally, hoping she might pass him by.  But there was no such luck in store for the Hupyrian.  Instead, she stopped beside his table and addressed him- and the matter- directly.

"We need to talk, and clear the air.  You're avoiding me.  Why?"

Mondo hesitated briefly as he looked at her.  So... she had refused to allow this to become an unspoken wall between them.  Mondo had chosen to play 'evade' while Helga had chosen 'confront.'  She would doubtless be a better Tongo player than he.

He thought about his recent nightmares, centering upon events on Risa.  Why had his mind kept orbiting that incident?  To the events surrounding his attempted tryst with Dona'be?

"You are right," Mondo said, "I have been avoiding you.  And you deserve more respect.  Please... sit."

He gestured to the seat across the table from him.

"The truth is," he began, "this is about more than my failure to maintain composure.  And it is about more than goading a subordinate into battle while under the influence of a bizarre virus."

He leaned forward, his eyes filled with painful earnestness.

"The truth is..."

Suddenly, the alert lights came on throughout the mess hall, accompanied by an Alert announcement.

Mondo stood as though he'd been shot up by a spring.

"Another time," he said apologetically, and then carried his tray to the replicator before making his way to his duty station.

[USS Challenger - Enlisted Mess Hall - Deck 4]

USS Challenger - Enlisted Mess Hall - Deck 4

Mondo paused as he entered the enlisted crewmember's Mess on the fourth deck.  He glanced around, looking for a familiar face...  A face he wished to avoid.

It had been some time since the events at the subspace research station, but the Hupyrian was still deeply troubled by them.  Medical facts had absolved him of wrongdoing, but he couldn't help feeling guilty about instigating a fight with a subordinate.  All the moreso as the scars from Risa had been re-opened during the incident.  His dreams had often been restless in recent days, as memories of both altercations kept surfacing to disturb his sleep.

He had tried to apologize to the Klingon hybrid at the research facility, but sensed that his apology had only antagonized her further.  Since then, he'd been actively avoiding the woman.

But it seemed the proverbial coast was clear.  Helga was not here.

Mondo went to the replicator, ordering a portion of Roast Reet Porridge with a cup of water, and then went to sit at a mostly unpopulated table. 

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

Mondo seemed more sad than angry at this point.  Memories of recent sins intermingled with the sins of days past.  Hopeful choices that turned out to be mistakes with dark consequences.  He wondered if they would echo throughout the rest of his life at regular intervals.

"I do feel like myself, again.  But I also understand why one would wish to be cautious.

I regret to say I antagonized an underling and provoked an attack.

Perhaps there is a medical reason, but the shame of it is like a cloud over me."

[Subspace Research Facility - Near the Landing Pad]

Subspace Research Facility - Near the Landing Pad

Mondo's head hung low as Helga shouted at him.   Then, slowly, he began to nod.

"You are correct.  I should not have pursued you when you walked off.

Walking away when you are angry is the right course to take.  It prevents problems.  I know this.

Yet... I... found myself angry, too.  Unreasonably so.  And my anger led me to confront you."

He lifted his head, looking right at her.  He could recall striking her, and being struck by her.  It was a crystal clear memory.  But it felt like someone else's memory.  Even now, he could barely believe it had happened.  Even the evidence on his body, and on hers, seemed unreal.  He felt like a stranger to himself.

"I apologize."

[The Sea Pearls Resort Hotel - Risa]

The Sea Pearls Resort Hotel - Risa

The sea air was warm against Mondo's skin as the hover-ferry made its way over to the Sea Pearls resort.  The Hotel swelled on the horizon like an inflating balloon.  The ferry was ingeniously designed with air flaps and baffles that allowed only a pleasant, quiet breeze to sweep across its deck despite the high speed of the craft.  The comfortable ride had made Mondo forget how quickly the vehicle was actually moving until he focused on the hotel's growing form- a frame of reference to judge against.

Mondo turned to look at his companion.  Dona'be smiled at him.  She was so beautiful.

"Wake up," she said, rather sternly.

Mondo's eyes went wide with surprise.  She'd spoken to him, rather than use her hands to sign.  It was a violation of her oath of service!

"What?"  He asked the question, his tone a fountain of surprise.

Bruises began to spread across her features, like a fast-growing fungus on impossibly putrefying bread.  Blood trickled from her broken nose.  A nose which had been fine a moment ago.  Her mouth opened, revealing shattered teeth.

"Wake up!"

Landing Pad at the Subspace Research Facility

Mondo's eyes opened and he took a sharp intake of breath.  He had endured variations of this nightmare ever since that fateful day, nearly two years ago.  But never had it seemed so vivid.  So real.

He gradually became aware of his surroundings, and then himself.  Recollection of what had transpired filtered back into his brain as his gaze passed over his blooded knuckles, and the bite marks on his arms.  He could feel the bruises on his face, the damage to his ribs.  He recalled the fight dimly, as though he was remembering a holovid.

As though he had watched it happen to someone else.

The lunatic rage of that moment was mostly gone, now.  Thankfully.

He felt ashamed.

"Hello," he said, his voice hoarse at first, "I think I am myself again."

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

Mondo grinned.

It was a maniacal grin, from an inner-self that the Hupyrian always kept buried deep.  But now, this situation unlocked the darkest heart of him.  Helga's attack shattered a glass case in his mind that was clearly labeled, "Break Only In Case of Lunacy."

The shattering of his discipline and empathy rang out like a chorus in his skull, and he stepped forward to engage the half-Klingon crewman without any learned grace or careful training.  He became a savage of the jungle, an echo of distant ancestors from before language came to his people.  He was a tornado of knuckles and elbows and knees.

She landed blows upon him, doubtless causing injuries, but his brain registered the damage without recording it as a reason to stop.  He delivered his own devastating strikes to the best of his ability.  It was a bloody dance.

He'd danced this dance before, and regretted it.  This was better:  Utterly primal.  Nothing held back.  No second thoughts.

He reached out to break her in a thousand ways, and felt her reaching back to him.

No two lovers had ever shared a more intimate embrace.

His nerves sang.  His brain was afire.

It was perfection, and he never wanted to stop.

[Subspace Research Facility - Control Room]

Subspace Research Facility - Control Room

Mondo looked over his shoulder as the noise of an altercation could be heard somewhere behind him.  But he did not go to see what it was.  He could hear the sounds of the Ferengi as he was assaulted.  There was no mistaking the sounds they produced when they were in a state of alarm or extreme agitation.  Returning his attention to Helga, he spoke again.  He had no attention for Bailey.  He did not even acknowledge him.

"If you are not a child, then do not act like one.  Do not fall to pieces at the earliest sign of difficulty, and storm off to rage in a room when you should be doing your duty.  Perhaps we are all infected by some illness, as you suggest.  Or perhaps it is radiation.  Or a chemical in the air.

Listen to it, Crewman.  Listen to the sounds of rage unleashed.  A murder in progress.  The Ferengi, dying.

Will they save him in time?

I do not know.

But if I can not keep a simple crewman in line on this mission, he will not be the last victim of this insanity.

So, tell me, Crewman.   Are you going to control yourself, and behave like an adult..."

His hands balled into fists.  His eyes were hard.

"or do I have to deal with you, and teach you to be one?"

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

Mondo watched Helga go, and it was not long before a loud, rage-filled exclamation could be heard in the distance.  He gritted his teeth.  It seemed the Ferengi was well in hand here.  He was more concerned about the raging Klingon in the next room.  This was a tense situation, and he didn't need some headstrong Klingon causing an incident with the Romulans.  If the shooting started again, it might never stop.

He followed after her, without orders, trying to quietly slip away.

When he reached the Command Room, he spoke in a low voice.

"You are making a hard thing more difficult, Crewman.  The situation is sensitive.  We are about to be cut off by environmental factors.  There is a potential contaminant to worry about.  And you are behaving like a child."

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

Seconds seemed like hours, and Mondo's patience wore away faster than the fuse of a hand-grenade.  Finally, he got his orders.  He turned back to the Romulans.

"I am unarmed, so you need have no fear of walking with me.  I proceed now, trusting in you.  A gesture to you, Romulans, so that you might consider ending this pointless standoff between us.

Now, I proceed."

It was a more verbose, and much angrier admonishment than he'd usually have made, but the situation was grating on him.  Mondo took the first slow steps towards the indicated location of the Ferengi, following the flank he'd been assigned.  A Ferengi who, it seemed, was somehow at the core of everything happening here today.

Hopefully, now that they were apprehending him, they would also be able to get some answers to what had happened here.

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

Mondo looked towards his Klingon compatriot as she cursed at the thought of working with the Romulans.

He understood.

Not long ago, the Hupyrians had endured a civil war over Ferengi interlopers.  It was a war that had torn the planet apart, pitting clan against clan over whether the aliens should be welcomed or repelled.  Somehow, the Ferengi themselves had been minority participants in a planetary conflict about their presence.

Elder Hupyrians on both sides of the conflict still held bitter feelings about it.  Moving beyond past enmity had required a noble act of will, accepting the new reality because refusing to do so would only result in endless bloodshed.  Mondo's own grandfather lived in service to a Ferengi whose throat he'd have cut without hesitation in the days before Hupyria became a protectorate member of the Ferengi Alliance.

The Klingons themselves had, not so long ago, been at war with the Federation.  And more than once.   These conflicts left scars on the soul that were slow to heal and hard to forget.  But the Alliance between the Klingons and the Federation was further testament to the fact that old wounds could be overcome.

"We only ever make peace with our enemies, Crewman," Mondo reminded her.

She offered additional commentary at his perceived intelligence when he offered to disarm himself for the collaboration.  He smiled at her, "A fair appraisal."

He carefully set his rifle down, and then un-holstered his Type II phaser from his belt, setting it down as well.  Standing, he moved by inches so that no Romulan might be startled as he assumed his full height.

"I am Petty Officer Mondo'li Nari!" he called out to the Romulans, figuring some variety of introduction was in order.  He noticed that he shouted the introduction with more volume than he'd intended.  He felt a growing irritation in him.  Despite his admonishment to the Crewman to remember the principles of diplomacy, he found himself growing tired of the fact that the Romulans were making this process so difficult and fraught with danger.

Then he looked to Commander Briggs, waiting for a nod of approval before continuing in this collaborative attempt to apprehend the hiding Ferengi.

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

Mondo was very relieved to find that the Doctor was not seriously injured.  While she was a Starfleet officer just like the rest of them, he still thought of Doctors, Medics, and Healers as noncombatants.  Had the Doctor been seriously injured, he would have blamed himself.  But, upon Belmont proclaiming her general health, his anxiety on that score diminished.

This was not to say his anxiety was absent.  It seemed that at any moment, negotiations with the Romulans might break down, and the shooting might resume.

At the suggestion of a 'joint operation', Mondo slowly lifted his hand.

"I volunteer to accompany the Romulans, Sir.  If they wish, I will even volunteer to disarm myself, and rely on them for protection as a show of good-faith."

Mondo knew that Ferengi were capable of violence.  But they didn't tend to be very good at it.  He was comfortable trying to apprehend one without a phaser, presuming that any Romulan naval officer with him wouldn't stand statue while Mondo was fired upon.

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

Still crouching, Mondo made sure the emitter of his phaser rifle was pointed down as he slowly and carefully removed its powercell and replaced it.  Wide-beam firing of the kind he'd been doing was very useful in this kind of shootout, but it was power-intensive.

"Sir," he spoke as softly as he could and still be heard, "we should evacuate the wounded to the ship.  We can beam them into medical isolation."

He found himself quite concerned over the Doctor in particular.  Yet even as he gave his suggestion, he knew it might not be taken up.  With an unknown contaminant or bio-agent likely, it might be the Commander's opinion that the entire away team could be sacrificed rather than endanger the ship.  In which case, not only would the wounded not be beamed up... but perhaps even sending reinforcements would be reconsidered, lest additional personnel become endangered.

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

The hallway was illuminated with the violent crisscross of phasers and disruptors.  Flashes of light dazzled the senses.  Explosions of vaporized metals created a toxic, acrid sense to the air.  Cooked flesh mixed in with the poisonous vapors, making the whole place smell like a Sheliak barbecue.

It was not clear to Mondo how well he was doing.  The smoke filled, brightly flashing corridor was not conducive to taking accurate stock of the situation.  But finally, he knew that things were about to turn against him.  Two disruptor bolts crashed into his shield at nearly the same time, and the barrier brightened and then fizzled out, with smoke rising from the arm-projector.

The next shot would take him down.

And then, suddenly, the firefight was called to a halt.

Mondo crouched and finally took stock of the wounded behind him, taking advantage of the momentary ceasefire.  One of the Romulans was shouting something about destroying Romulus, but Mondo was not the proper spokesperson to respond to that nonsense.  He had closer concerns.

"Is everyone all right?"  If they needed to call for emergency evacuation, now was the time.

[Subspace Research Facility]

Subspace Research Facility

There were times when being a seven-foot tall Hupyrian presented difficulties that needed to be overcome.  One of those times was when someone was shooting at you.  A bigger man made a bigger target.  It was all downside in a firefight.  It made you more likely to die.

But this was not a firefight.  This was a riotous mob.  And in such a scenario, mass was a gift.

Mondo thumbed the rifle's safety on and then flipped it around, swinging it like a baseball bat.  He brained one man.  Brought the stock down on a woman's shoulder.  Kicked the knees out from under a third person.  Shoved a portly fellow back onto his compatriots.  Punched a fourth so hard that their nose flattened in a bloody explosion of flesh.   It went well, at first.  But this could not be long maintained.

Fortunately, an evacuation route was found, and the away team pulled back.

Unfortunately, just as they found a spot of safe-haven, the safe part of the haven disintegrated into Romulan disruptor fire.

...And this was where being a giant of a man proved to be a disadvantage.

Mondo activated his personal force-shield, deploying a round field of force just in time to catch a disruptor bolt upon it.  The shield glowed brightly before becoming nearly transparent again.  Mondo brought his rifle up, one-handing it in his right hand as he blocked enemy fire with his left.

He thumbed off the safety and pressed the trigger, unleashing the weapon's last setting upon the Romulans:

Maximum Stun, Wide Beam.