#nebulaties

[mythictold]

❝ i’m not gonna let anything happen to you. ❞ picard to bev

her stomach is in knots and it feels like a stone has lodged into the pit of her belly. it's not a pleasant feeling, but it reminds her she's still human at least. she isn't afraid of what lies ahead - she's afraid of it not working. there are so many variables and the scientific part of her could point out that it increases the danger beyond measure, but she's trying not to think about that. in a few hours, everything could be over.

beverly is dressed out of standard uniform; she's in an all black ensemble, hair pulled back into a tight bun. with careful precision, data has been attaching pieces of borg tech to her stealth suit and her skin; the stark contrast of the grey against her pale skin makes her a bit uneasy. it isn't connected in any way to her body, only placed in certain points to mimic an assimilated borg. it's inert and there's no chance of it turning against her which is a small comfort; still, the metal feels cold against her hands, her temple. they're meant to emit the same registrations any borg tech would, therefore disguising her as human. as long as she doesn't provoke the hive so to speak, she shouldn't be detected. the metaphasic shielding geordi had rushed is still unknown; they've barely had time to test it. it should afford her time, at the very least, if things go sideways.

she is desperately hoping things do not go sideways.

she flexes her fingers, watching the borg tech move with her every motion. slung around her waist is a utility belt with several hyposprays loaded with the virus, as well as a phaser; it'll be her only defense and she's just fine with it - a phaser rifle would only slow her down. she needs to move quickly, efficiently. there won't be much time once everything kicks off.

"your false implants are transmitting borg signatures correctly." data says matter-of-factly. "it should not be detectable as a disguise for some time. i've confirmed the installation of the metaphasic shielding into your communications badge; simply touch twice to engage it - though i suggest only as a last resort as it is still currently unstable."

"thank you, data." beverly gives the ghost of a smile. "can you check in with geordi, make sure there's nothing else we're missing?"

not that she doesn't trust geordi to be two steps ahead with the torpedos, the shielding for the ship - he'd floated the idea of trying to extend the transporter lock range for a brief period of time, but she's had no confirmation. at any rate, data leaves and beverly's facade slips a fraction of an inch. she pushes off the edge of the biobed she'd been sitting on, trying to pretend the borg tech strapped to her is nothing more than a costume, nothing more than what she'd wear for a play. it doesn't make it any easier to see.

"i know." beverly replies to jean-luc softly, checking her belt once more to ensure she has everything. it's nervous energy she has no outlet for. "if it were anyone else i'd be terrified i'm walking into a death sentence." and frankly, she still might be. but she trusts jean-luc and his promise to her, to keep her safe, to bring her back in one piece. beverly intends to do what she can to ensure her own safety of course, but the borg are her top priority. the queen herself.

"just promise me you'll have one hell of a sizeable romulan ale waiting for me when i get back."

@nebulaties

[evcryopeneye]

@nebulaties gets a starter

Frankly, the once princess was had stopped listening the the sounds of the meadows. The sky was lit up, vast swathes of it covered in bright purple and pink nebula, while that wasn't what her people called it, nor did they really understand what it was, it held reverence. It was, after all, where the gods lived. It was to be revered, even in Feng Wu's mind...even now as how she saw the universe was changing.

"How many worlds are there out there?"

[lindscys-arch]

@nebulaties ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"and here, i thought you were going to stop meddling in my unit's business." there's a slight smirk as she spoke, but the truth was there nonetheless. it wasn't unusual for various detective's paths to cross from time to time, but her unit really didn't like it when they felt like their turf was being stepped on. this time, she had to be the messenger for voight's far more expletive choice of words. "he sent me to be nice. if you keep working the same cases as us, sergeant is going to be the next one down here and he's going to use a lot more threat than i will."

[ensnchekov-a]

"Captain, these readings...” He has checked them not twice, but thrice, using various methods of scanning, all still inconclusive. Pavel spins in his chair to face @nebulaties​ proper, lips pressed in a thin line. “I don’t know what to make of them. They do not appear to be dangerous, only...strange, sir. I do not think we should leave without studying them closer.”

x.

[mythictold]

@nebulaties: 📷 Picard and bev of course (instagram edit)

[lindscys-arch]

@nebulaties ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

hands clung on to the neck of her kevlar vest, having geared up in preparation for the call they'd all been summoned to. it had danger written all over it, but for erin that was part and parcel of the job. but just because they'd signed up to it, didn't mean that she couldn't be worried about those on the scene with her, even those outside of her own department. it was always that much worse, that much more risky when one of their own was stuck on the inside. "don't do anything stupid, severide." eyes were serious as she looked towards the firefighter, though they'd all had their moments where they'd taken risks at a scene that they shouldn't have. "we're figuring out what we need to do to get everyone out safe, the last thing i need is adding you into the mix because you went running in there."

[evcryopeneye]

@nebulaties​​​ asked: what if i told you none of it was accidental? lorca for tilly

Green eyes watched him for a moment, she was sure that this was the longest she’d ever managed to hold eye contact with him without turning into a blubbering mess, except this time he had given her something to sink her brain into. Tilly was rapidly running facts back through her mind. Like flicking through a photobook, things stood out to her now much more vividly than they had before. It made perfect sense, everything had gone just a little too…perfectly wrong.

Uncharacteristically for Tilly, she answered with just one word.

“No.”

Oh, she hated when he looked at her, it was like he was staring into your soul or something and could see straight through and right into the most insecure part of your job. Right now, that was knowing when to shut the fuck up. Any good will she’d built up with the last simple reason was firmly about to be blown out of the airlock.

“The lack of transmission from the surface. The seemingly emotionally manipulative request from the ship and the fact that if we turned it down it would violate a Starfleet core principle and we’d be on the hook for that. The really cagey first officer. The fact that their story timeline doesn’t actually match up with technical specifications of their ship, and they’re capable of like warp two at the very most but you’d need to go at least warp four to make it from there to here in time.” She wasn’t done, unbelievably. “Even then they made it here faster than they should have so they didn’t actually even take the route they told us they took a more direct heading…”

Maybe there was a downside to not having her on the bridge?

Yet she was kinda okay with that right now, he scared the hell out of her. “And that you knew all this and you walked into the trap on purpose.” He had that look on his face, Tilly thought that in reality, she needed to elaborate on that pointed, “you have that expression,” blank. She wasn’t sure if blank was the word for it. It was the word she wanted to use but instead Tilly went with something more diplomatic.

“Unsurprised…expression.”

[evcryopeneye]

@nebulaties asked: ❛  was all of this just a lie?  ❜ Ed to tilly. Our Au verse

There was a flash of anger that Tilly had never expected to experience.

“Excuse me?” Maybe it was the first time she’d sounded entirely serious in response to him. Things were normally light hearted. Easy. or at least once upon a time they had been. Now, she just found herself pissed off.

Of course it wasn’t all a lie, how could he even bring himself to ask her that? As much as Tilly wanted to explode at him, she managed to keep her emotions in check, told herself that she couldn’t loose it right now, and that if she did, it would be an embarrassment to herself. Instead. She went quiet. Stared at him, a look on her face that could have cut a diamond.

“You left.”

It felt like a simple fact, and maybe it was, at least that was the way that Tilly viewed it. He had left. Left her. Left the entire world behind. The reality of the situation was it had broken her heart. Crushed her. The vaguely remembered the then Admiral Pike finding her twelve drinks deep at a bar. She’d never spoken about that night after it. Choosing to simply pretend it hadn’t happened, that seemed like a better route than having to actually deal with the fact that he was gone, and she;d never see him again.

She had grieved. At least that's what it had felt like. The same piercing pain that Discovery had left behind. A hole that wouldn’t be filled. Though it seemed that one simple statement was still enough to put a small crack in the wall of diplomacy she’d been sitting behind since the world had gone to shit (again.) “I never held it against you, you know that. I know why you did. People don’t pick whole worlds over one person, it just doesn’t happen.” The idea of returning home would have been beyond tempting. “I tried a hundred times I think, what would I have done in that situation and I don’t know.” She had come to the conclusion, there was no right and wrong.

Just a choice, and either way, it was going to be a pretty brutal choice.

“But don’t you ever, ever, walk in here, and question how I feel about you. Even when you piss me off.”