For Silica

Posted on Tue Oct 7th, 2025 @ 6:58pm by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Lieutenant Commander Ryuuji Takasu & Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D. & Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake' & Ensign Rin Kagamine 'Twin 2' & Ensign Len Kagamine 'Twin 1' & Chief Warrant Officer Karuta Roromiya & Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshika Miyafuji & Commander Thomas Johnson & Commander Jennifer Daxer & Commander Chisato Nishikigi & Lieutenant Commander Talia Johnson & Lieutenant Nezuko & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Lieutenant JG Aika Thompson & Lieutenant JG Vyse Ingelbard & Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander' & Ensign Sora Kobayashi 'Blank' & Ensign Hanna-Justina Marseille 'Desert Eagle'
Edited on on Tue Oct 7th, 2025 @ 7:20pm

1,508 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Preserving The Past
Location: Pilots Lounge
Timeline: 27th Jan 2397

The pilots lounge was silent. The scarred once lush world of Amerind could be seen through the windows. No one dared to talk, they just all sat there. Some of the pilots simply stared at their drinks, others stared out into nothingness.

The loss of Silica had hit them hard. She was the cheery, bubbly girl who had often been 'the life of the party'. Now, she was gone.

Fubuki sat on a stool at the bar. She was absently staring at the drink in front of her. She hadn't touched it, yet still she had been there well over an hour. Her heart ached, her best friend was gone.

'If only I had been there... I could have saved her... I should have ordered a retreat earlier... I should have seen the signs... I should have pulled them back... I should have kept us together...' the constant reel of thoughts ran through her mind, enough to drive even the strongest Betazoids crazy. It was like a dark storm cloud hung over her head and it was pouring rain upon her. Lots of cold rain, that stabbed into her skin like daggers.

Sora, for his part, was already 2 sheets to the wind, having skipped the synthenol and gone straight for the authentic alcohol stash. Contrary to the stereotype, Sora was a quiet drunk, and while the number of times he'd been inebriated in his life was such that he could count said instances on one hand, in those few times where he'd been stressed enough to resort to its influence, it had something of a calming effect on his nervous system. If Shiro would've been here, she would've been the voice of reason and talked him out of it; but Shiro wasn't here and he was just going to have to settle for the next best thing.

"I think we all know that Silica wouldn't have wanted this."

The silence broken, all heads in the room turned to Nozomi, who had been standing glumly before the windowsill, staring out at what remained of Amerind- and what remained of Silica. Aside from Fubuki, she was probably taking this loss the hardest, as Silica had been her charge on that fateful assignment- Silica's pulverized remains were, effectively, on Nozomi's hands. She, like Fubuki, had spent a good few hours running the scenario over and over in her head, wondering what she could've done differently that might've led to a different outcome. And it especially wasn't like Nozomi to ruminate on what she could've done better- she was a "what's-done-is-done" type of individual, always accepting the good with the bad and pressing on with her life. Here, however, it was different, as someone had died under her watch; that was not simply something you shrugged off.

"Standing around, moping for her loss?" Nozomi sighed, even if by this point she was doing little more than half-heartedly rationalizing an excuse for her to move on. "Is this how Silica would've wanted to be remembered in death?"

Fubuki finally touched her glass. She couldn't even remember what was in the glass. But she lifted it to her mouth and downed it in one. She spun around on her stool to face her pilots.

"You know what. You're right Nozomi." Fubuki said all eyes turning to her. She sat there, the glass empty in her hands. She was holding it in her lap. "We lost one of our own. And I can't help feel guilty over the fact that there are others that lost more..." she said. "And that I don't care as much about them as I should do!" Her gaze dipped down towards the floor, staring at the carpet of the lounge

Vyse started to close the distance to Fubuki, but stopped when Aika who spoke up. "She wouldn't want that either. It's not a fault to miss the people we lose."

Fubuki held her glass out, which was then refilled with whatever she had been in the first drink. "Silica was more than just a pilot. She was... she... was..." tears started to form in her eyes as she struggled to get the words out. "My best friend. We've been side by side since we were ensigns. She looked upto me... trusted me... came to me for guidance... even at the Academy she was by my side..." she sniffled.

She took a quick sip of her drink. "Now she's not. And I..." she glanced up, her eyes locking with Vyse for a brief moment. "I don't know what to do now. There's a Silica sized hole in my life now... I'm..."

She slid off the stool, silent tears running down her cheeks. "No. We'll all miss her. The way she was with us. How she treated us like family. How she lit up the room when she walked in. How kind she was. How caring she was.. how..." she couldn't help it, more tears flooded from her brown eyes. "Gentle and... loving... she... was..."

Ignoring the fact that they weren't alone, ignoring what anyone else might think, Vyse finished closing the distance and pulled Fubuki into his arms, holding her tight, letting her cry.

"Silica would've wanted us to remember her for the good she did in life," Nozomi remarked, fighting back tears of her own. "Not simply as someone who's no longer with us, but someone who lifted us up when we were down, who stuck her neck out for others for no other reason than it being the right reason..."

"Who always had our backs, whether with a pulse phaser or a kind word," Aika added.

Fubuki dobbed into Vyse's arms, tears now flooding from her eyes. She didn't care what people thought, she needed the comfort. Eventually she broke free of his arms and wiped her eyes with the end of her sleeve. "Pilots." She said as she held her drink.

Slowly she raised her glass high into the air. "Join me please. In a drink, for our lost sister. For Silica."

"For Silica," Nozomi replied, mirroring the gesture.

"For Silica," Lynette added, standing up and lifting her glass in kind.

Both of the twins stood up, Rin also showing evidence of tears. "For Silica," they said in unison.

“For Silica,” Aika said, a tear running down her cheek.

“For Silica,” Vyse added, standing, lifting his glass high.

Sora, for his part, was far too drunk to participate, so an exasperated Hanna elected to do so in his stead.

"For Silica!" she proclaimed, reaching over with her free hand and raising Sora's glass alongside her own.

"For Silica." A familiar voice said from the doorway. There stood Captain Aisaka and Lieutenant Commander Takasu, both holding up a drink. Although Taiga's looked more like orange juice. "Do you mind if we join you?" She asked.

"Captain!" Nozomi gasped. "We..." she trailed off for a moment, casting a silent glance at Fubuki just to make sure it was alright to let the Captain in on their little gathering.

Taiga raised a hand, waving it off. "Silica may be a fighter pilot, but she was still part of this family. Coming down here is the least I could do." She explained with a small smile. "In fact, do you mind if a few others join us?" She stepped aside to reveal some of the Tokyo's senior staff standing behind her.

Nezuko was among them, having assisted in setting up the fighter launch bay just the way the pilots preferred. She had not known Silica well but she understood the loss the other pilots were filling. She lifted her own drink and with her free hand signed something many of the pilots would know, the individual letters in Federation Sign Language S-I-L-I-C-A.

Talia stood alongside Nezuko offering a warm and caring smile. “I’ll admit I didn’t know Silica that well, but she was part of what I consider to be my family, as are all of you, so I’m here to help celebrate her life not mourn it.”

Walking in, thomas felt it wrong not to attend, especially as the ships XO. Walking in, he noticed Nezuko and Talia offering condolances, so he walked up to offer his own

Daxer filed in as well. In one had, she had a full bottle of authentic whiskey, and in the other, a hand full of shot glasses. She set them on a nearby table, then poured herself a drink. Still reeling from the loss of so many innocent lives, she couldn't even bring herself to say anything as she tilted her head back and made it vanish.

Fubuki gave them a small smile. "I think Silica would have liked this." She said. "You're all more than welcome." She told them as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve again.

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