"You would really kill me... Chiyo-Kichi?"

Posted on Mon Sep 18th, 2023 @ 11:07pm by Major Chiyo Shimada & Lieutenant Tatsuo Shimada

945 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Starship Graveyard
Location: Deck 11

After the Redemption crew had gained access to the new Starship. Tatsuo made his way down once they determined that the deck they had broken into had no importance. However, when they discovered that access to the deck had been restricted, they had resorted to using the Jefferies tubes. It wasn't ideal, especially if they had to drag their loot back through the Jefferies tubes to their entry point, but that was what needed to be done.

Tatsuo had climbed down four decks through the Jefferies tubes until he found himself on Deck 11. If there was one thing his security training taught him to look for when aboard a new ship, it was find the brig: If one found the brig, chances are they were on the same deck as the rest of the security complex, meaning the armory would be nearby.

And sure enough, Tatsuo found the armory. It didn't appear access had been restricted yet, and as such, Tatsuo was able to waltz right in and load up a crate with phaser rifles. As he began looking for an exit, he thought to himself that it was almost too easy...

"STOP!" A voice called out behind him.

Tatsuo froze. That voice...

"That crate and its contents are Starfleet property!" The voice told him. "While I don't want to, I will kill you to protect Starfleet property:"

Though barked with the ferocity of a marine, Tatsuo knew it couldn't belong to anyone else: It was a voice he could pick out of a list of different voices; a voice like a drop of honey, like the first rays of sunshine chasing away the night.

Tatsuo dropped the crate. It landed on the deck with a heavy thud, and Tatsuo slowly raised his hands.

"You would really kill me?" He asked, slowly turning around and lowering his hood to reveal his face. "Chiyo-Kichi?"

When Tatsuo turned around and dropped his hood. His suspicions were indeed confirmed; the woman pointing a phaser rifle at him was indeed his long-lost Chiyo Mabuchi. The years had brought out a few wrinkles, but her face was otherwise instantly recognizable as belonging to the woman he had fallen in love with all those years ago.

And now, Tatsuo washed a wave of horror wash over that face as Chiyo realized her horrible mistake:

"No..." Chiyo declared, tossing her phaser rifle aside. It clattered to the deck next to the bulkhead.

"I would... Never hurt you..." Chiyo muttered as the tears began to well up in her eyes. "Not even if I had orders to execute you..."

That reaction told Tatsuo all he needed to know: He tapped his combadge, hidden under his cloak:

"Shimada to all Redemption personnel: Stand down." He ordered. "I repeat, all Redemption personnel stand down."

With Tatsuo giving the order for his people to stand down, Chiyo went for her combadge to do the same:

"Shimada to all hands." She said, her voice shaking. "Do not hurt the raiders... They are Starfleet Officers..."

Tatsuo was surprised to hear his name come from Chiyo's mouth, especially given that they weren't married yet. But he didn't let his surprise show at this moment, as he was sure Chiyo would have an explanation as to why she took his name before the wedding.

He could see from Chiyo's distressed face that she wasn't going to be able to hold on for much longer, and stepped forward to give her the embrace no doubt she had been waiting for a long time to receive. However, Tatsuo was caught off guard when Chiyo instead pulled him into a kiss. Chiyo's tongue extended into Tatsuo's mouth, dancing around with Tatsuo's own tongue as if Chiyo's taste buds were verifying that it was really him and not some changeling imposter.

If time had stood still at this moment, trapping Chiyo here forever, she would have been a very happy woman.

The first tears had already fallen from Chiyo's eyes during the kiss, and when they finally parted lips and Chiyo took in air, the first words out of her mouth were:

"It's you... It's really, honest to god, you..."

Within the span of a minute, the battle-hardened Major Chiyo Shimada had melted away, leaving behind a sobbing Chiyo Mabuchi clinging to Tatsuo for dear life, relieved and overjoyed that, after 14 years of not knowing, Tatsuo was okay.

The plushness of Chiyo's embrace was also comforting to Tatsuo, like reuniting with a long lost pillow. However, doubts now swirled in the back of Tatsuo's mind. The reappearance of Chiyo had been rather sudden, and he knew for sure that there would be unforeseen consequences. But right now, Chiyo didn't need to know about any of that.

After a few minutes passed of Chiyo letting out 14 years of pent up emotions onto Tatsuo's uniform, Chiyo was finally in a stable enough state to speak:

"All this time, I was fed a lie you were dead: A lie I refused to believe, and while I'm glad my persistence has paid off, that begs the question:" Chiyo said. "Why wasn't there even so much as a distress call?"

"We tried, Chiyo-kichi." Tatsuo said. "Honestly, we did, but once it became obvious that help wasn't coming, and the constant attacks were getting people killed, we shut off our distress beacon."

"Save it for the Captain;" Chiyo suggested. "She's going to be very interested in your tale of survival..."

Posting by

Major Chiyo Shimada
Marine Commander
Second Officer
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant Tatsuo Shimada
Acting Captain
USS Redemption

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