Station: Fluffies & Duties

Posted on Sun Sep 7th, 2025 @ 11:09pm by Captain Rogue "Ro" Kudo {Meji Master} {Flt. Cpt.} & Lieutenant Jynxza Dahl {Meji} {AKA: Toots} & Yui Kudo
Edited on on Sun Sep 7th, 2025 @ 11:09pm

Mission: The Inner Flame
Location: M-69
Timeline: Current

ON:

Ken and Ro had gotten up early, with Ken heading off to duty, while Ro remained to await her daughter waking up. She had spent the night getting up several times as Yui had fussed over soiling herself. The look of disgust on that tiny face was priceless and made Ro giggle and smile every time she saw it. But, being an augment by mysterious means, Ro Kudo was not tired in the slightest as she got her daughter ready to travel the base to her office. The egg-pod was going to come in very handy for however long it would be needed. Now, with Yui all dolled up in her cute little pink onesie, her hair up in twin pigtails that were just short ponytails that stuck up off her head. Little Fox had her nickname as hairclips, cute little pink Japanese fox faces with grins and slanted eyes to denote a happy, friendly fox of protection. Easing her daughter back into the pod, Ro adjusted the interior to sit up slightly so Yui could see ahead and to the sides as she went, not yet achieving the ability to lift her head despite being able to move it around quite well. The blanket over her body was the Kudo family colors; black field with red and white being the secondary colors. Ro had replicated the super soft blanket and had added in fox faces to the design, white fox faces with red and white accents, the eyes, mouth and nose being black lines like the hair clips.

Ro tied the pod into her combadge and also her palm PADD. If she happened to get too far ahead the pod would hurry to catch up or would simply stop in place until the connection was reacquired. Leaving the pod behind would not be a problem. So, with all this done, Ro Kudo left her quarters, her daughter floating along beside her and Cosmo rolling along at her feet.

As they left the confines of their home, Yui's eyes went wide as they entered the first corridor. The unusual lights, and then seeing other people passing them by, with many of the strangers waving and smiling at her. So, Yui's untrained brain simply responded by kicking and flailing her arms with joy, smiling broadly and liking the attention. Mama would talk to her and reassure her in the soft words she had yet to figure out, but she was smiling too, so it made the whole experience pleasurable. On and on they went, until eventually Yui's excitement was taken over by sheer curiosity, her eyes looking at everything, her head turning left and right to watch things pass until out of view before she would turn her head forward again as it was supported by the head rest. And, then, the whole place opened up as they left another passage. Input. Mass amounts of input to her mind as she looked up, and up, and up into the central open area of Starbase M-69. They were on the upper Promenade (which she did not know, obviously) and her face just froze in a slack jaw as her eyes tried to take it all in.

Neon signs flashed, people in large crowds walking by in the pedestrian lanes, windows full of all kinds of strange things as they moved along. Then, Yui's eyes caught sight of something and she let out a squeal. Ro practically jumped in her skin when that happened, immediately turning to check Yui for anything that may have happened to her. All Yui did was smile at her.

"You sneak," Ro said to her, smiling. "You startled mama. What is it?"

Yui, not sure how to point at something specifically, let her right arm shoot out, as if reaching, but her eyes stayed locked on mama. Ro, not looking for somatic signals, tilted her head.

"What, Little Fox? Are you dirty?" Ro opened the snaps on the onesie, checking for anything untoward and found her daughter dry as a bone. "No potty. What, Yui?"

Yui, seeing that her arm had not done the trick, used it again. But, this time, she made a fist and thrust it to her right twice. Ro, seeing the arm moving again, doubling up the movement with a fist, got what Yui was doing; pointing. She followed the line of sight from the fist to where it was angled, and there in a window were a bunch of stuffed animals all set up nice and straight so all could be seen by observation. So, Ro turned the pod that way and walked them over so Yui could see into the window better, taking Yui's left hand in hers and rubbing it with her fingers. "Which one, Yui," she asked, just as she saw the one Yui must have been pointing at the most. It was a cute little fox sitting up on its butt with big, open eyes and a toothy smile. It was brown and white where appropriate, like the fur of a true fox. Ro put her finger on the glass to point to that one. "That one?" Yui flailed with excitement.

"Okay, let's go inside," Ro said, getting them moving within. Going to the back side of the display, Ro found the right stuffed animal and took it down, handing it to Yui. Another squeal came forth as Yui used both hands to get a death grip on it; her version of a hug. "Any others?" Ro asked, motioning to the display. "Point, like this." Ro took her daughter's left hand and scrunched the fingers and thumb into a fist, but kept the forefinger out straight. She demonstrated as she pointed. "Point."

Yui, trying to listen, but excited over her new plush toy, opened her hand and looked at it. Mama said "point" and did the action she had done to Yui's hand. It took several tries but Yui was able to finally shape her hand enough to give a sort of point. As she pointed mama would ask "This one", and if not the right one Yui would keep pointing. When the right one was found by mama Yui would give a big, toothless smile and then chomp down on her fox in excitement. So, Yui ended up with a plush fox, a blue elephant, and a Ninja Turtle. All of them smaller so she could hold each one. After paying for them, mama strategically placed them in the pod with Yui, but the fox remained in her hands as she kept chomping on him and smiling at him. With Yui content and distracted, Captain Kudo finally got up to the command deck, entering the foyer for her office.

Not by her own choice, simply by billet, Captain Kudo had ended up with an all female assistant staff, and all were Human. Upon seeing Ro enter they did as all junior officers did, sat up straighter and became a bit more focused even though they knew Captain Kudo was not a slave driver. But, all that propriety went out the airlock as each of them laid eyes on Yui, giggling and smiling as she chomped on "Foxy's" head and face. So, smiling with pride, Ro did not reprimand them when they all came in to say hi to her daughter.

Yui, focused on "Foxy", was taken aback when she was suddenly inundated with a bunch of strange faces surrounding her pod. Her eyes danced from face to face, fear beginning to creep into her little body until her eyes found mama. She saw her mother standing back a little, but she was smiling and gave a little finger wave to Yui to let her know she was alright and mama was watching. In her mind she remembered mama's voice "I will always protect you", so she relaxed and gave weak smiles to the strange women around her. After a few minutes of them wanting to touch her hands and fingers, which Yui allowed without pulling away, mama got them to all move away with smiles and many a thank you to them. She heard in her mind her mother's voice in her memory; "You are my Little Fox, Yui. Mama loves you deeply and will always be there to protect you. I will teach you to be strong, to be polite, to be rational. To be humble in all you do and to look out for others. I will show you light in the darkness and how to become that light yourself, for others to follow when they need it most." Hearing that in her mind gave Yui an understanding through the Force, that she was to treat others with kindness and respect. Her tiny, one-day old brain having its first epiphany. The Force had given her an intuitive grasp of reality through something simple and striking.

Ro got them moving again, into her office. She took the pod over to her desk, cleared a spot for it, and then had it land on the left outer corner. Two small landing gear came out, squared, to prevent the pod from rolling one way or the other should Yui choose to shift her weight around. As she did this, she saw Yui's face go blank, as if deep in thought, and then she heard the muffled poot. As Yui's face went to make her normal fussing over the soiled bottom, mama was on it, lifting her up and out, leaving Foxy behind for now. Going to the replicator she got some Yui-sized diapers and cleaning supplies and returned to her office couch, laying a changing blanket out to lay her daughter on. "I got you, Yui. Little miss poopy butt." She gave a tickle to her ribs which made Yui squeal and wiggle. Going through the process and getting the new diaper on her daughter, Ro got up and disposed of the soiled one and the used wipes, having tucked pillows around Yui so she could not roll off the couch.

As she turned back to Yui while at the replicator, Ro noticed that Yui was trying to sit up. Try as she might, the poor girl could not get her body to agree with what she wanted. She was lifting her head, though, trying to peek over the pillows to find where mama went, showing her muscles were already developing due to her augment genes. It was both frightening and exhilerating to see. It made Ro anxious on just how fast her daughter was going to grow, and if her mind would develop in the right direction when she realized she was superior to children around her. The Force had given her no signs or tremors that anything was amiss, nor would be amiss. Still, as a Meji master, Ro had to be mindful. Going over she scooped Yui up and took her back to her pod, sitting her seat up fully so she could look around and play with her stuffies while mama took care of her paperwork. She made sure the blowers were on high for a few minutes to rid her office of the stench of Yui.

"Captain Kudo, Lieutenant Dahl is here to see you."

Ro looked to see which desk had sent the message before tapping the comm key. "Thank you, Celeste. Send her in." She tapped the key off and scooted her chair forward to sit up from her PADD reading.

Jynxza came prancing in in her usual fashion, a simple grin on her face as she saw Ro, but then broke into a big smile upon seeing the baby on her desk. "What...you...is that Yui?"

Yui, hearing her name, turned her head to look that way, her brow scrunching up at the sight of another stranger. But, seeing another woman her brow relaxed and she now had curiosity in her eyes.

Ro gave a smile to Jynx, but also because of her daughter's expressive face. The poor girl had seen more strange faces in one day and it showed. Plus, Ro could feel she was getting tired despite her genetics. She was still a newborn and she had still had a jumble of input to her brain. Sleep would allow time for her brain to work it all out. "That's Little Fox, yep." Ro got up and came around the desk, walking to the replicator. "I take it you're here to figure out where you'll fit in?"

"Something like that," Dahl admitted, stepping in closer to Yui and giving her a cutesie wave. "Hi, Yui. I am Jynxza." She put her own hand on her chest. "It is good to meet you."

Ro returned with a bottle in hand, filled with what appeared to be skim milk. "Someone has been up for hours now and needs a nap." She said to Jynx. Tapping keys on the pod it laid her daughter back and she began to fuss over it until mom presented the bottle for view. "Hungry?"

Yui flailed with excitement at the prospect of eating.

Adjusting the pod cover to halfway, to block the overhead lights from blinding Yui, Ro used Fixy to prop the bottle up as she put the nipple in the girl's mouth. Yui latched on like it would be her last meal, with mama and the stranger now being forgotten. Seeing her daughter now settling and eating, Ro took up a PADD and had Dahl join her in her office lounge area, both of them sitting down on the sofa.

"A weird question," Jynxza said. "Is that replicated milk going to be good for her?"

"It's mine," Ro said, flatly. "I put a sample in the replicator and had it analyze it. What is in my body is now in that replicated milk. She has the real thing back home in a stasis container, set to remain at my body temp and stirred within. This is the temporary fix while working."

"Oh, okay." Jynxza said. "Sorry, it's really none of my business, but most replicated things tend to taste, well, synthetic to me to some degree."

"Toots, it's fine." Ro gave a smile. "Thank you for caring enough to ask. But, let's get business done first, shall we?" She got a nod of yes from Dahl. "Good. First, you'll be assigned here as my assistant, but beyond that you will be my strategic operations officer. You'll work with Commander Kehlani but you answer to me. Command needs to remain up-to-date with all the happenings here and as a strategic operations officer you will be able to do that. Intel, command directives, mission advisor status, the works. This means there will be times you will be very busy. And, I hope you like Klingons."

"Klingons?" Dahl asked this even though she knew that Kehlani was a Klingon.

"Yes," Ro said. "She is the Matriarch of House Kehlani, as well as, a KDF and Starfleet officer. She has the Starfleet Silver Star for Valor for her efforts in rescuing the President of the UFP, and her entourage, almost single-handedly. It was many years ago, but it still holds weight with those who know of her. She is very Human in her character and being, having been raised on Earth while her father served on the staff for the Klingon Ambassador. And, she even looks Human due to her family genetics from days past."

Jynxza had sat and absorbed all that, having briefly met Kehlani once while she was talking to Gavin Lasso. "Got it, Captain."

Ro went on once acknowledgement had been given. "Second, I'm promoting you to Lieutenant. The JG won't work for your security clearance. You will be able to access Security Access 4. As a Captain mine would normally be 5, but as Fleet Captain, it is now flag level at access 6. Do not abuse this privilege, Lieutenant, or I will throw the book at you. With all that said, do you still wish to serve as my Command Assistant?"

"Yes, Captain." Jynxza responded. "I will not abuse your trust, nor the trust of Starfleet."

Ro actually deflated a bit, a grin returning to her face. "Thank you. With all your past lives I know you have the wherewithal to do this job. Also, if Captain Vehn needs you for an assignment you will go. She and Sureth will always have my blessing when it comes to crossing our resources. This big behemoth is our home, all of us, and we need to remember that. So, get in the proper uniform of the day, Lieutenant, and join me out on the veranda."

"Veranda?" Dahl glanced around, seeing no veranda from her current position in the office.

Giving Jynx a mischievous smile, Ro got up and went around behind her desk even as Dahl went to the replicator to get her new pips. The pips came quickly and as Jynx changed them out she watched Captain Kudo go to what she thought had just been a transparisteel wall window. The Captain tapped a key on a panel and the wall split apart and opened onto a rather spacious veranda. The pod that Yui was in also lifted off and followed her out. Wanting to see this, Jynxza tossed her old pips in the refuse and hurried out to the veranda. Her eyes went wide as she saw that this veranda provided a panoramic view of the central open core of M-69, with the upper Promenade over a hundred feet below. All around were the windows for offices, with personnel buzzing around with jetpacks and antigrav units seeing to maintenance and repairs. "Holy shit!" She said. "Just...wow. Fantastic view."

"I know, right?" Ro smiled as the pod settled on the high standing table with four tall, high-backed stools around it for viewing the 'open air' sights while dining or sipping beverages. "I had the office remodeled shortly after gaining the position of Fleet Captain. It was small and stuffy. Now, I can sit out here and enjoy this," her hands went out palms up and spread apart. "While working." Yui began to fuss in her sleep and wiggle around. She took up the spit towel and set it on her left shoulder and then picked up Yui and put her on that shoulder, beginning to pat her back while burping her. She said in a low tone. "My desk, bottom left drawer, there's a bottle of Pendleton's and two tumblers. Go grab them for us." Ro then got situated on one of the stools as she patted Yui's back.

Dahl went and gathered the libation and the two glasses, bringing them out and setting them on the table. The bottle was new, never having been opened. She waited.

Yui gave a belch, but it did not sound juicy, so Ro leaned her head back to look her daughter in the eye, but she was still fast asleep. So, she carefully got her off her shoulder and put her back in the pod bassinet. The girl never stirred except to adjust her body and was back in deep sleep quickly. "You gonna open that?" Ro asked, giggling.

"Oh," Jynxza said, giggling in return. "I was being polite and waiting for you." She reached out and took up the bottle, removing the plastic seal and then grabbing the cork lid and twisting it back and forth while pulling gently, so as not to have the cork suddenly let loose and slake her in whiskey. She poured half a tumbler in each glass then set the bottle down, handing one glass to Ro as she took up her own.

Ro took her glass and raised it. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Dahl, on your promotion and assignment." They clanked their glasses together quietly so as not to wake Yui, then each took a sip. For Ro, it was just for flavor since alcohol really had no affect on her.

Dahl took a sip and her eyes went wide. "Damn, that's good. My first taste of Pendleton."

"Aged, at minimum, twelve years before bottled." Ro said. "I love the flavor, but my body gets no joy from it."

"Maybe I should try that," Jynxza giggled out. "I tend to over-enjoy at times."

Ro grinned but locked eyes with her officer. "This won't be a problem, will it?"

"No, Captain." Jynxza immediately answered. "I know when to let loose and when not to."

"Good," Ro responded. "Again, the book is thick and it hurts when you get hit with it."

"Message received." Dahl said.

The two women continued to talk, with Ro using the Force to Sense everything about Jynxza. In the core of her being was that dormant ball of energy. On their next sit down Ro would have to bring that up. For now, they simply got better acquainted.

OFF: