Looks Are Deceiving

Posted on Sun Feb 8th, 2026 @ 12:54pm by Civilian Teevs Dosivi & Lieutenant JG Damien Blackford & Civilian Conglomerate (Reece)

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Promenade
Timeline: MD 03 / 0954 hours
3142 words - 6.3 OF Standard Post Measure

A handful of people had gathered when a request for hands circulated the ship. There were hound bodies everywhere that needed to be cleaned up, and the hesitation around approaching them was understandable. Teevs was among the group who had offered to help with cleanup. He was dressed almost casually: during the visit to retrieve items from his quarters last night, he had grabbed some old work attire that was comfortable yet functional. Half-tucked into his pant pocket were a pair of dark brown gloves.

Damien stood in the promenade, watching as the group gathered around him. In the wake of the attack, there was plenty of clean up that needed to be seen to. Not least of all, was the removal, and eventual disposal, of the attackers bodies. They hadn’t been an immediate priority, at least not in comparison to the removal of the deceased crew members, but now it was time. With Commander Reece’s permission, he’d sent out a request for volunteers to join him. There simply weren’t enough Security Officers to do the task alone.

As he gazed out over the group, he couldn’t help but smile. In all honesty, when he’d put out the request, he hadn’t been expecting quite so many people to respond. It was… heartening to see. As he gaze wondered over the crowd, it was drawn to the figure of their resident guide. Damien hadn’t had a proper introduction to the man yet, and in all honesty, he was quite surprised to see him here. He didn’t exactly… look the part. Still, Damien was more than happy for any and all help.

Before he got started, he decided it would be best to, at the very least, introduce himself to the man. He was acquainted with most of the other people here after all. Making his way through the crowd, he stopped near the man and smiled at him. “Hi.” He said, extending a hand. “Teevs, right?”

Looking up at the security officer who approached him, Teevs returned the smile and accepted the human gesture. "That's me, sir," he responded.

Damien smiled, shaking the man's hand, before dropping it, crossing his arms over his chest. "Damien, please." He said. "No need for formalities here." Rocking on his heels slightly, he continued, "I'm glad to see you here. I'm not gonna lie. I wasn't sure who would actually come to help out. It's good to see so many people."

Teevs nodded in agreement. "That doesn't surprise me." He looked around at the people who had shown up. "Something I have noticed since I came aboard is that this crew is a community and they help each other out. I would have been surprised if few people showed up."

Damien smiled, nodding. “I haven’t been aboard the Ship as long as a lot of the crew, but in the time I have been here, I’ve found everyone to be welcoming and helpful.” He smiled, looking around the room at the gathered crowd. Despite everything that had happened, and the reason that everyone had gathered in the first place, people seemed… happy. They were smiling and joking. “I couldn’t have wished for a better first posting.”

One didn't have to be able to sense emotions to pick up on the feeling of community here. Teevs smiled up at Damien. "I believe the Human saying is something about being in one's positive hands? Anyways, these hounds won't move themselves, so how do you want to do this?"

Damien smiled, nodding. “I think we’ve got about as many people as we could need.” He said, clapping his hands together, before jogging back to the front of the room. “If I could have everyone’s attention please!” He called out, quiet descending on the room as everyone turned to look at him.

Taking a steadying breath, he smiled at the assembled group before speaking. “Okay. First of all, I just wanted to thank everyone for coming out this afternoon to help out. Okay, as you’re all aware, there are bodies and debris scattered pretty much everywhere that needs clearing. If everyone could split up into teams, this will go a heck of a lot quicker. Once you’ve split up into teams, come see me, I’ll assign you a section. Clear away as much debris as you’re able to, and move the bodies to one side. Later on we’ll get them all moved into one location, and the command staff can decide what needs to be done with them. Theres Grav Carts scattered around if anyone needs one. And, most importantly guys, please please, be careful. Especially around the bodies. These are an unknown entity and we don’t know what kind of defences they might still have.”

Clapping his hands together, he smiled. “Okay. That’s everything. Like I said, once you’ve got your teams sorted, come see me, and I’ll tell you where to go.”

The crowd gradually assembled into two main groups: one team to handle the grav carts, and the others to move the hound bodies and debris. From there, smaller groups of 2-3 naturally formed, and coupled with a cart pusher, the teams began to form. Putting on his gloves, Teevs gravitated toward the latter group, which probably needed more hands anyways since there were way more hound bodies to move than carts to push.

A Bolian ensign noticed the rather short alien amongst the people who volunteered for heavy lifting and raised a brow. "Teevs, right?"

Looking over, then up, Teevs smiled up at the blue man. "Yes?"

"No offense," the Bolian began, pausing to look Teevs over. To be blunt, he did not look like he was going to be much help with lifting. "... but, uh... you sure you don't want to handle the carts?"

Teevs shook his head and chuckled. "I am alright, sir. I spent the last 5 cycles hauling cargo. I am quite familiar with this kind of labour."

The Bolian shrugged as he and Teevs made it to Damien. He had his doubts, but he knew better than to speak them, especially now that he was in front of the officer in charge. "I guess it's the two of us, Lieutenant," he reported. "And a cart pusher, if you can spare it."

As the group slowly started dividing themselves up, Damien grabbed the PaDD he had brought with him, making quick notes about who was assigned where and what groups were handling which sector. Most people seemed happy to work together, so the work was quickly dished out, and the teams got to work. Teevs and the Bolian Ensign were the last two to approach him, so when he enquired about a cart pusher, Damien simply smiled. “I can just about spare myself.” He said, grinning. Passing the PaDD to the Ensign, he said, “The last section to be assigned is this one here.” He said, highlighting a section of map. “Why don’t you two head over there, and I’ll grab a cart and meet you there.”

The Bolian nodded. "Aye, sir." He and Teevs then went off to the section they were assigned.

The first thing either of them noticed was the 6 or so hound bodies, some with sparking bits and all of them leaking blood onto the deck plating. Debris was scattered around, some half-covering the bodies. Beneath one particular pile of debris, part of a uniform was just barely visible contrary to the blood pool near it.

Teevs crinkled his nose at the stench. 'Wet dog' but if the dog had rolled in rotting steak juice. He took in the destruction before turning to the Bolian, who was also a little unsettled by the scene.

The ensign swallowed hard. He wasn't sure if the attack or the aftermath was preferred. Spotting the glimpse of a uniform, he pointed it out. "We should get that body out first," he eventually said, the words strangled as if he were being choked by the air itself. "Whoever it is at least deserves that respect."

Following the gesture, Teevs gave a solemn nod. The two moved to the debris pile and started piling the pieces so a grav cart could pick them up. Eventually, piece by piece, more of the uniform became visible, as well as the person it was on. It was a science officer, a Human by the looks of it. Her body had been mangled, long claw marks shredding the uniform and digging deep into her skin. Time alone would have made her unrecoverable, but the injuries only made that reality arrive sooner.

The two eventually got enough removed that they could grab her and pull her out, and they gently set her down in a debris-free area. "That's Ensign Haley Vanders," the Bolian said quietly, recognising what was left of her face.

Teevs tilted his head down for a brief moment of silence to respect the science officer. "I'm not sure if it eases the weight," he said to the Bolian, "but she probably wasn't in pain for very long."

Damien quickly made his way over to where the grav-carts were waiting, and grabbed one of them. It didn't take it him long to make his way over to where Teevs and the Bolian were working on moving some debris. The amout of bodies that were piled up as well had him crinkling his nose as the smell quickly overpowered his nostrils. Coughing slightly, he took a deep breath before stopping in front of Teevs and the Ensign.

Before he could say anything, he took in the sight before him. Taking a shaky breath, he knelt down beside the Bolian, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. What's your name?" He asked softly.

The ensign tensed slightly when a hand touched his shoulder and looked to see Damien. "Bashalan, sir," he replied quietly.

"Bashalan." Damien repeated. "I assume you knew her?" He asked softly, gesturing to the young woman who was led in front of them.

Bashalan looked back at the mangled body. "Not that well, but she regularly attended game nights. She was a kind person." He paused, then looked at the hound bodies. Did one of them kill her? "She didn't deserve this." There was angry grief behind his quiet words. "None of our people deserved this."

Damien sighed and squeezed his shoulder. "I know, Bashalan. No one deserves this, but all we can do now is do everything we can to honour her's, and everyone elses memories. We will make sure they are remembered, and we will make sure that those that did this pay for everything they did."

There was a pause before the ensign nodded. "Aye, sir."

Despite being aboard for a while now, Teevs still wasn't certain of the ship customs on comforting grief. He could provide his own words, but he lacked the time and shared experience that this crew shared, so in a way it felt awkward to provide comfort beyond generic sentiments. As such, he was glad that Damien showed up when he did. While the two grieved the body, Teevs quietly scoped out the damage and the hound bodies to identify a good place to start. Most required debris to be moved first.

Damien stayed stood in silence for a few moments longer, offering his silent prayers to whatever Deities may be listening. Eventually, he squeezed Bashalan's shoulder once again. "Come on Bashalan. We've got a job to do." He said softly, before turning to face Teevs once more. "Alright Mr. Teevs. Where abouts do you think is the best place to begin?"

Teevs turned his head when Damien spoke up, seeing the Bolian stand and grudgingly turn away from the dead science officer. "Those two are easy to pick up," he said, pointing out the two hounds with the least amount of rubble on them. "The rest are going to require moving debris first. Two of them have heavy material on them, meaning that unless we can get additional hands, the most practical method is to have two lift the debris while the third pulls the hound out from under it." Even he knew that, despite the number of volunteers, getting extra hands would be difficult because everyone was spread out and there was that much wreckage.

Damien nodded, looking over the bodies in front of them. Everyone else was still busy in their assigned sectors, so they would have to make do with just the three of them. “Alright then.” He said. “Which part would you find easier?” He asked, already anticipating the answer. He couldn’t lie. Whilst he was appreciative of the man’s offer to help, he couldn’t see just how he was going to pull a dead hound by himself.

"Oh, I'm happy to do the hard part," Teevs offered. There was no flair to his words, just honest acknowledgement of the situation. "Logistically, it makes sense for the taller ones in the group to provide the most clearance, which would be the two of you. The hounds only need to be cleared from under the debris, and the three of us can get them onto the cart."

Bashalan gave Damien a sideways glance that silently asked if he was going to change the man's mind. These things had to be at least 100 kg each, and Teevs had a fair build but these things were easily twice his size. "Teevs, there's no way," he said anyways, looking to Teevs. "Those things are twice your size and, no offense, probably twice your weight, too!"

Damien glanced over at Bashalan. Whilst he probably would've said it in a maybe gentler way, he wasn't exactly wrong.

"As I said earlier, I used to haul cargo," Teevs insisted, giving Bashalan a look. He turned his attention back to Damien for a shrug. "It doesn't hurt to let me try. The worst that happens is that I'll be humbled. I believe I've seen Humans place wagers in scenarios like this where the loser gets the winner alcohol?"

Damien looked between the two men, before shrugging and sighing. "He's not wrong Bashalan. If he wants to try it, I see no harm in letting him." He looked back at Teevs, nodding. "Alright Mr Teevs. Give it a whirl. If you fail, you owe us a drink. If you manage it, next round is on us." He said, grinning at him.

Teevs gave a nod with a grin. "I'll count down when I'm ready." As the two moved into position, Teevs approached the hound, making sure to steer clear of anything that could hurt him. Tugging on his gloves, he bent down and found decent anchor points between the fur and the cybernetics for him to curl his fingers into. He widened his stance and took a couple breaths as he removed the slack from his grip. It looked like he would fall backwards if he let go. "Three... two... one!"

Damien moved to one side of the debris, whilst Bashalan moved to the other. Squatting down, he grabbed hold of a couple anchor points, waiting for the Bolian to affirm that he had done the same. On Teevs' countdown, he gripped hold of the debris, and with a soft grunt, lifted it up.

The Bolian grunted as he lifted the debris with Damien.

Shortly after Teevs counted down, he quickly sucked in a breath and braced. As the debris lifted, he began to pull, one small shuffle at a time. The effort made him sink almost into a squat, but he kept his balance and kept inching backwards. Occasionally, he would refresh his breath with an audible gasp, but he didn’t let up the tension. The uncomfortable sound of the cybernetics dragging along the floor was an unmistakeable sign of movement.

The sound caught Bashalan's attention, and he stared in surprise as Teevs actually managed to pull the hound body out. "What the fuck..." he quietly breathed.

Damien couldn't lie. He had half expected Teevs to grab hold of the Hounds body, pull, and promptly fall flat on his ass. They'd all have a chuckle, and then they'd try again. Watching as the Hobbit sized man somehow actually managed to do it then... Well. He was just surprised that he didn't drop the debris from shock. And judging from Bashalan's comment, the young Bolian was very much in the same camp as him.

Steadily, the hound body came out from under the debris, and once the body was clear Teevs stopped pulling. Using the hound as a support, Teevs let himself sit backwards onto the ground to catch his breath. It had been a while since he had to move something that heavy, and he wasn't about to risk getting lightheaded. He flexed his fingers and rolled his wrists to release the tightness that came from such a tight grip. Panting, he looked to the ensign, a little smirk creeping onto his face at the man's pure shock.

Bashalan lowered the debris with Damien, the whole time just... speechless. For a couple seconds, he stared at the short man on the ground, the gears in his head trying to make sense of what he just saw. "... how?!?!?!" He finally stammered.

Teevs chuckled. "Training and physics," he answered. With a grunt, he pushed himself to his feet. "It's been a while since I've had do move something that heavy," he commented, bouncing on his toes to recover his energy. "I'll probably need a moment to catch my breath after we move the second one."

With the body finally moved, Damien let the debris drop to the floor and moved to stand next to Teevs, unable to suppress the grin creeping across his face. "Well." He eventually said. "My dad always taught me to admit when I was wrong." Cuffing the man on the shoulder, he chuckled and said. "There's an old human saying. 'Never judge a book by its cover.' And I do believe that you've just proved that correct. I'll happily buy you a drink next time we're up in Ten Forward together." He said with a chuckle. "Take a few minutes to compose yourself Teevs. Then we'll move on."

That was probably the first Human idiom Teevs actually understood. There was a similar phrase from back home about not judging the story by how one chooses to present it. Teevs returned the grin and nodded, taking a few extra seconds to catch his breath.

Bashalan was still in shock. It was good that they had another hound body to pull out from heavy rubble, because the Bolian needed to see this again to believe it. Surely Teevs only got lucky with the first one... right???