Welcome Home, Zack!

Posted on Wed Jul 19th, 2023 @ 10:29am by Captain Maho Takahashi & Commander Keisuke Takahashi 'K.T.' & Lieutenant Commander Tristana & Lieutenant Terrence "Terry" Johnston & Takeshi Nakazato 'Zack'

853 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: The Fast & The Fleet
Location: USS Myogi
Timeline: A few days after 'NightKids, Assemble!'

Two Starfleet Security Officers led a man with short black hair down a gangway. For the man, being escorted, it was a gangway he thought he would never walk down again, towards a ship he would never set foot on again.

And yet, here he was.

Granted, it wasn't exactly putting a Starfleet uniform back on again, but it was a chance for him to see his old ship and his old friends again.

It had taken a lot of string pulling, some of which definitely required Lieutenant Reno's assistance, but Maho finally convinced Starfleet to allow the Myogi's former Third Officer to "visit" the ship, on certain conditions. As Takeshi Nakazato was now a civilian, he had to respect what Starfleet designated as restricted areas for civilians and not enter them.

Maho, Keisuke, Tristana, and even Terry had gathered at the airlock to welcome Takeshi home. As the last remnants of the Miyahara era crew, they all agreed that the first faces Takeshi saw stepping back on board the Myogi for the first time should be familiar ones, so that the ship's mostly new crew compliment wasn't as much of a shock to him.

The airlock opened, and on the other side stood two Starfleet Security officers flanking Takeshi. The security officers motioned for Takeshi to step over the threshold, but when his eyes met Maho's, he didn't need the instruction. He stepped over the threshold and into Maho's arms.

"Welcome home, Takeshi-kun." Maho said.

"It's good to be home, Maporin." Takeshi responded. "I've missed you so much..."

Takeshi lifted the embrace and took notice to how much Maho's belly had grown.

"And look at you!" Takeshi noted. "Pretty soon, I won't be able to put my arms around you!"

Maho simply smiled, unsure what to make of Takeshi's remark as Takeshi moved on to the next person to say hello to. It began with Keisuke accepting Takeshi's hand to shake, but he immediately pulled Takeshi in for an embrace of his own.

"Good to see you again, Zack." Keisuke said. "How are Sayuki and the kids holding up?"

"Ah, they're doing alright." Takeshi responded. "Mako just started school, Sayuki got her bosses to... overlook my dishonorable discharge, and now I'm working at Townsend-Thoresen alongside her."

"Sounds like you're on the up and up, then." Keisuke nodded.

"Tristana, I can see you still haven't buttoned up!" Takeshi joked in his former tone as he hugged the Myogi's Assistant Chief of Security.

"You should know by now that you can't tell an independent woman what to do." Tristana responded. "Besides, you no longer have any authority over me."

"True, too true..." Takeshi said, moving on to the next person waiting for him.

"Johnston. You finally got the big chair?" Takeshi asked.

"I wish." Terry responded. "Alas, Pratt's still here. He sends his regrets that he couldn't be here."

"Pratt and I are obviously going to need to do some catching up." Takeshi said. "Anyway, anyone care to show me to my accommodations during my brief visit?"

---

[Deck 2]

The turbolift doors opened on Deck 2, and Maho, Keisuke, and Takeshi stepped out onto the deck.

"I must admit, the Myogi is exactly as I remember it." Takeshi sighed. "I've missed this. All of this. Times were simpler before Taiga Aisaka came along and fucked everything up."

Maho's face tensed up when Takeshi mentioned Taiga's name.

"She has done quite a lot of damage:" Maho admitted. "Both to this ship and our Federation. But, that's a discussion for another time. Now, since we've not had another Third Officer since you left, I felt it was only appropriate to offer you your old quarters back during your visit."

"You're not hearing me saying no, are you?" Takeshi said as the three of them arrived to the doors of the Third Officer's quarters.

"If you need anything, K.T. and I are right down the hall, in Senpai's old quarters." Maho motioned.

Takeshi turned and smiled.

"I'll have to swing by at some point. Just to say hi."

The doors to the Third Officer's quarters swooshed open, and Takeshi stepped through them into a perfectly-preserved time capsule from when he had last been on board, which was when he had been imprisoned in the quarters during the trial of Captain Aisaka. The quarters looked mostly untouched from that turbulent time, and everything was almost exactly how he left it, right down to the neatly folded up bedding sitting on the bed.

Takeshi smiled, but sadness betrayed it. A lot of good times happened in these quarters, but Takeshi knew that this would likely be the last time he would ever set foot in them, and given the limited amount of time he would be on board, Takeshi resolved that he would make the most out of this opportunity that had been granted to him by the powers that be.

Posting by

Captain Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer

Commander Keisuke Takahashi
Second Officer

Lieutenant Commander Tristana
Assistant Chief of Security

Lieutenant Terrence "Terry" Johnston
Engineering Officer

Takeshi Nakazato
Disgraced Starfleet Officer

 

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