Helldate: January 13th, 2020.
The empty husk of the U.S.S Excalibur -registry NCC-1664- sat in a collapsed cooling tower in the middle of one of the most irradiated places in hell. It was a monument in a sense. A symbol of ambition, science, curiosity, peace and corruption of the mind. It was once a worthy ship, with hundreds of beings calling it home. It served its Federation with honor and bravery, earning its name through history. But it wasn't destroyed by an enemy vessel, spatial anomaly, or a virus infecting its crew or its computers. But it was rather destroyed by the very Federation it swore to protect.
In its final duty for its Federation, it was called to participate in a wargame against an exceptionally revered Starship by an equally revered captain. Except for this time, the starship wasn't controlled by its captain, but rather by a computer. At first, all was well. The computer systems were operating as projected by its ingenious creator, but soon after, it began to display rather peculiar irregularities. Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew member-s outside of the esteemed starship, the computer began to develop a mind of its own, and started to act outside of the experiment's parameters- to deadly results. The computer made it so that the starship would attack; and destroy the other starships. And one of the starships that it was able to destroy before being stopped was sadly the Excalibur.
In a flash of light, four hundred men, women, and others onboard were taken forcibly, never to see their loved ones ever again. With its captain and crew dead, it began to drift off into space aimlessly for some years, being lost to time and history. All of that changed when the dead ship drifted into a small, undisguisable wormhole, so insignificant that it didn't show up on long range sensors. It soon fell into the wormhole, and disappeared across the plain of reality just like it had been like those years ago. In an instant, it was in a world very unlike it came from, where suffering of the common man was widespread and even encouraged upon. It was there where it crashed, spelling the end for an entire region, and where it sat for the past five years. It would have sat for longer if it wasn't for one particular snake demon.
A day had passed since Sir Pentious and his Egg minions had discovered the lost remain of another worldly vehicle that was never supposed to be in their domain. The airship was once again at the site of the destroyed power plant and the Excalibur itself, still lodged under mountains of debris and ash after its five year rest. In the command deck, the snake demon himself was donning a yellow and radiation protection suit, having similarities to his own appearance. His underlings also shared the same strategy, dawning themselves in radiation suits which matched their white and round appearance. The snake demon himself groaned as he moved in his protective suit.
"This suit is ungodly uncomfortable! Why do they even make it like this? Are they trying to kill us before the radiation does?"
"Boss we can't stay more than 2 hours out here before we grow another eye, so we better hurry with umm, uuhhh…. What were we doing again?"
"Rrrhhh! We are looking for an entrance into the vessel you pretentious numbskulls! Now hurry it up! This suit is cramping on my style." Pentious explained
After half an hour of searching the group came across a large hole near the top of the saucer section of the ship just above the registry numbers, surrounded by debris.
"Ah-hah! This is it boys! Our ticket to revenge on that pinstriped prick Alastor and those rejects at that insurable princess's hotel!"
"A-are you sure you want to g-go in there boss? There could be aliens in there." One of the egg minions voiced while shaking.
"Get a hold of yourself! This isn't some pulp science fiction show from the 60's! Now help me set up the rope you imbeciles."
A few minutes later and the eggbois had finished setting up a rope and pulley system under a tripod and began to lower Pentious into the ship.
"Gently, gently! I don't want a hole in this suit!"
After a few seconds the snake overlord had reached the bottom and found himself in a hallway. The hallway itself had better days. The walls were a light shade of gray with a red ceiling. On the walls were tears in it, revealing the inner machinery and circuitry inside of it. It looked like the whole thing hadn't been touched in years, with rust starting to form on the walls and the floor.
The hallway itself curved to the left while multiple doors were on the right side of the hallway. All of the rooms were sealed in by their orange automatic doors locking however, prompting the snake demon to go forward after unsuccessfully trying to open one as he tried to find a handle. Pentious was joined by two of his egg minions a few seconds later with one breaking the silence.
"Hey boss, which direction should we go?" One of the eggs asked Pentious.
"Hmmm, lets go forward for now. And keep up with my pace."
The three began making their way down the hall until they came up to a room on the right whose door had not shut due to a malfunction as it sparked. On the left was a cylindrical door that looked like it lead to some advanced elevator.
"W-what do you think is in there?" One of the eggbois nervously asked.
"Oh stop being such a scaredy cat! Nothing that was alive could have survived in this place." Pentious grumbled as he entered the room.
Inside was a number of broken down computer systems, high and swivel chairs, and a large front viewport with some cracks while displaying nothing but blackness. In the center was a circle with some railing containing the most sophisticated swivel chair with buttons on the armrests while two more simple ones lay in front of the first one its sides behind what looked like a large control panel. Across the circular room on the walls were various computers, controls, and screens all blank or without power. On the floor were uniforms, with most of them being gold and red. They all had a yellow symbol on the heart on each of them, like if everyone was there suddenly vanished into thin air. Checking his geiger counter, he realized that it has barely making any clicks. Somehow, this ship was naturally imperious against radiation, at least on the inside.
Pentious stared in wonder for a bit, for he knew that for once in his life, he had struck gold.
He smiled.
Stardate: 7588.659
In the lobby of the Hazbin Hotel five bright beams of light appeared as Edison and his new demon allies materialized in front of Husk causing the feline to spit out the beer he was drinking onto Angel's face.
"Phhssstt, WHAT THE!?"
"Uhhhgg, yeah I missed you too, Huskie boy. Though it's kind of a big leap from playing hard to getting to spraying all over my face after being apart for a while. You must have really missed me" Angel flirted while whipping the beer off of his face.
Husk shot angel a murderous glare while blushing.
"That was surprisingly smooth." Vaggie commented on being transported.
"Those blue lights and patterns were mesmerizing though." Charlie stated as she looked around the hotel making sure nothing was damaged in her absence.
"Hmm, yes I must say the lights were interesting but it was otherwise boring compared to my methods." Alastor said with a chin scratch and a shrug.
"If you could get Niffty over here I have something to discuss with all of you." Edison voiced.
His request for Niffty was answered almost instantaneously as the cyclops demon almost teleported into place as she rushed into the looby. "Hi, Captain Endison!"
Edison chuckled as he saw Niffty leap across the lobby. "It's nice to see you too Ms Niffty."
"So, I should explain to you how Humans got up to building ships like we have right now." Edison said to the demons as he walked across the lobby as he stopped in front of the chairs.
"Mind if I borrow this? My back is killing me."
"No, of course not." Charlie replied
"Thanks." Edison responded as he took a chair and turned it to face the demons as he took a seat on it and made himself comfortable on it while pulling out a PDA.
"Where do you want me to start?" Edison asked.
"Well right now it's 2020 so it would be best to go chronologically from there." Vaggie suggested.
"2020? Guess you haven't gone through the Bell Riots yet. Basically, The Riots were a social event that took place in the Western United States in September 2024. They led to the end of the Sanctuary Districts in the United States and marked the start of people trying to find actual solutions that would fix problems in society rather than just ignoring them." Edison began explaining to the demons.
"What were the Sanctuary Districts?" Charlie asked.
"The Sanctuary districts were created in major cities across the United States in late 2020 as a means to address the rampant homlessness and unemployment crisis at the time under the guise that they would provide free housing and food as well as possible future employment for the needy. In reality, their true purpose was to act as internment camps for the poor and homeless to remove them from the public view all together."
Both Alastor and Angel were immediately reminded of the many hoover towns that had popped up during the great depression, though the two had opposite reactions with Alastor internally gleeful at the image of such hopelessness being met with a promise of salvation only for it to dash the destitute further into despair. Angel on the other hand was chillingly reminded of his last run down apartment and how had spent time living next to one in his youth when he was alive before his mob family had raked in enough dough to move to a more permanent operations site for their many illegal gigs.
"The conditions inside were appalling and only the bare minimum of supplies were given out. Worse was that only a few months after their inception, local police forces and the government started throwing in all manner of unwanted social outcasts and dissidents, most of them being people with mental health issues that couldn't afford treatment. Gangs and violence popped up too. Since the American public was kept in the dark things seemed to be stable until the true purpose and conditions inside the Sanctuary districts were made known in 2024."
"When the riots started." Charlie followed along.
"Yes, a man named Gabriel Bell led a riot after a guard got into a fight with one of the residents suffering from mental illness and was able to take control of his district and leak the conditions inside with the help of the press despite the police ordering an information blackout. This led to full scale revolts in all the other sanctuary districts, causing the national guard to be called in to quell the uprising. In the end hundreds of the camp's residents were murdered by the guard along with Bell, but the senseless violence and truth had turned the public against the sanctuary districts leading to their abolishment and a new era where the public was finally no longer willing to let the status quo continue and started to implement some actual solutions to societal problems."
The demons were saddened to various degrees over hearing about the camps, but were inspired to hear that for once there was a hopeful ending.
Alastor on the other hand was thinking deeply about how such an event would affect the future and what events it would lead to in this timeline.
"Oh oh, what was the next major event after the Bell Riots?" Nifty implored.
"Well the next major event is VERY major." Edison began.
"What was it?" Angel asked
"Oh, it was nothing much. It was The Third World War."
Husk dropped his beer bottle at the news with its shattering being the only noise heard. The demons were left completely shocked, unable to form any worlds.
Letting out a sigh Edison continued. "You see, it all started back in the 1990's with the Eugenics wars and later the second American civil war in 2026. Though the two are essentially considered part of the same conflict due to how intertwined they are with each other and World War Three. In short, the Eugenics wars started as genetic engineering had become advanced enough to be used on humans, leading to the desire to create a perfect race of humans by eugenicists. The second American Civil War on the other hand broke out over a rising fascist party and eugenicists that had refused to accept election results or the new reforms passed after the bell riots and started openly killing people taking part in mass protests against the US government demanding more reforms, action, and an end to the overt corruption. Ultimately it didn't last long though because the Third World War began only months later."
Taking a deep breath Edison continued. "It was the United States of America against the Eastern Coalition which was a collection of Easter nations including China. It being brutal was an understatement. About thirty percent of the world population was killed, along with hundreds of thousands of species being wiped out. If it wasn't for missile defense systems in orbit, god knows how many more would have died. By the time the bloodshed was over by 2053, most governments had completely collapsed, with only the United States, Switzerland, and some other European countries somehow managing to keep themselves afloat. By then, they could barely control what was outside of their remaining major cities, leaving most of the world under a post atomic horror. It was like the wild west but on every drug known to man."
The demons were horrified to learn that in only 6 years the world would likely face its near end. Charlie started to form tears in her eyes while looking down while the others looked like they had seen a ghost, Alastor remained neutral.
Edison was worried that he scared the demons about their earth being turned into nuclear ash. Maybe he could salvage this by giving them hope about their earth. Their earth was different from theirs after all, maybe events unfolded differently. "Wait. Did you guys on earth have a clone dictator in the 90's? Name was Khan, well not Genghis khan. Just Khan Noonien Singh."
"W-What, uh no. I….wait, I'm pretty sure there haven't been any human clones created yet." Charlie started wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Yes, in fact I've never hear anything about these Eugenics wars you've mentioned and I tend to keep a close eye on what sinners have mentioned about the living world" Alastor added
"Then that means…Oh, of course! I think your earth is safe from nuking itself then. Khan was kind of the major catalyst that started that."
"Wait hold-hold on! Why does your timeline not match up with ours minus the fact that you're from the future." Vaggie exclaimed.
"Probably an alternate timeline. We get into those all the time. I mean there was one timeline where everyone was evil and super fascist."
"E-everyone? Shit what happened to cause that? They all wake up on the wrong side of the bed every morning? " Angel asked.
"Basically instead of welcoming the first vulcans to earth in open arms, the humans just shot them and jump started a two hundred year killing streak across half of the galaxy."
"Well, I'm glad we got to meet your future instead of those goosteppers." Vaggie added
"You probably wouldn't have met them either. They would've just turned your city into a crater using Photon Torpedos."
"Photon torpedoes? Are they like nukes or something?" Husk inquired
"They're weapons we use on starships like ours. They're matter/antimatter explosives that have a yield of 65 megatons. We have around 120 of them onboard." Edison explained.
"65 MEGATONS?! That's more than Tsar Bomba!" Husk exclaimed.
"Woah!" Edison got up to pat Husk on the back. "Calm down buddy! We barely even make their yield go up that high most of the time."
"Well I guess you guys always have the nuclear option if things were to go REALLY south." Angel commented earning a glare from everyone but Alastor.
"You can say that again. But if I do that, I would without a doubt get court martialed and be sent to some mining colony for the rest of my life. Anyways back on track there could be a number of things that could have caused the difference in our timelines but even if we were able to compile a full historical record it would be extremely difficult to narrow down the cause. Sometimes it's a set of choices, other times it could be whether certain things existed or not, or even differences in the laws of physics."
"So after the world was plunged into a post atomic horror, how was humanity able to rebuild and get to the point of space travel?" Vaggie asked.
"Well basically in 2063, there was a scientist named Zefram Cochrane and he is one of the main reasons why this whole United Federation of Planets is a thing by inventing the warp drive. And on April 5th, 2063, he and two others got inside of the first warp capable ship; the Phoenix, and was the first human to break the light barrier. Soon afterwards, they came into the first species Humans ever came across: The Vulcans. That was the start of us getting our crap together. In a twist of irony, the Phoenix's hull was also made out of a repurposed nuclear warhead."
Charlie smiled at the thought that what had caused so much death and destruction in Edison's timeline had been turned into the instrument of their salvation.
"After First Contact the Vulcans helped to rebuild society and to stabilize the global ecosystem with the European Hegemony leading the effort. Simultaneously, Earth began forming its first planetary colonies in and outside of the solar system. Decades later Starfleet was formed in 2130 with headquarters established in San Francisco and then the Federation in 2161 between the Vulcans, Humans, Tellarites, and Andorians. Then of course came the war with the Klingons and Romulans and the rest is history."
"That was quite the tale my friend! A quite interesting timeline humanity went through." Alastor stated.
"Yeah I have to say it was pretty inspiring and interesting, but also very dark and sad." Charlie added.
"Most history is Miss Morningstar. But I didn't just come down here to give you all a history lesson, I have some things I brought down for you."
Reaching into his jacket Edison fished out a PADD and what looked like a large disk.
"This PADD has a more in depth summary of our history and many other things. You can use it as an encyclopedia of sorts, but make sure not to take it outside the hotel. It's been programmed to automatically purge all internal data if it goes outside a 50 meter perimeter around the hotel to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Just think of it as a way to uphold the state of the prime directive."
"What's that other thing for?" Nifty asked
"This is a holoprojector, it projects very realistic images in real time and will be used for us to communicate easily."
Setting the device onto a table the captain pushed a few buttons before a projection of Atathia came up giving a salute.
"Captain, I see the projector is working well."
Returning the salute the Captain smiled "Good to see you too number one."
Suddenly, Edison snapped his fingers. "Crap! I almost forgot, we have to discuss the clinic right?"
"Yes Kylkuc, Alastair, and Xehrarv should be here any minute to discuss how it will be set up and operated." Atathia replied.
Just as she finished her sentence another projection materialized showing the Vulcan doctor who also gave a quick salute while the Tellatite security officer and human engineer joined seconds later.
"Quick question, what kind of diseases do you guys have down here?"
"Well it's mostly the same as up on earth especially with sinners, but there are a few diseases only some hellborn species can get and hellhounds can be infected by fleas. I can probably direct you to a link to a website owned by one of hell's few private hospitals." Charlie answered.
"Before the bloomin' clinic can even be set up though we will 'ave ter set up a 'ydroponics bay to try to give it a go and recreate most o' the ingredients for us medicines as well as the bloody fusion reactor ter run any o' the bloody advanced machines the bleedin' clinic will 'ave. And we need ter 'ave a look into buyin' resources from hell that can be used." Alastair stated
"Oh, oh! I know a few rooms that have enough windows to make a greenhouse and we could put the generator in the basement!" Nifty added.
"Good, we can work with Nifty when we are building in the place. There's also security to manage and disguises for our crew that will be in view of those that come into the hotel." Xehrarv said.
"Me and Husk have been managing security so I guess we can work with you guys." Vaggie replied.
"And that leaves me and Charlie to handle helping you folks buy materials from hell."
Alastor cheerfully stated.
"Yes, we can secure additional funding by manipulating the stock market too. Though we'll do our best to be subtle with it to avoid attracting attention." Edison stated.
The discussion went on for a while before all the basics were fleshed out and decided on. The fusion reactor and hydroponics farm, along with a security office, a small lab, and the clinic would all be set up inside the hotel while any human or nonhuman crew that couldn't be passed off as demons would be disguised under holograms with a small security detachment allotted to the hotel as well as a few people to monitor the reactor, tend to the indoor garden, run the clinic, and a few to work in the lab. While most research would be done on the ship, the smaller lab would be closer to assist the medics and could serve as a place to study hell and help find a way out of it.
Once things had wrapped up Edison stood up from his chair. "God talk. We'll start work tomorrow. This should take a few days to set it all up, but we'll do it; as long as you hold up your end of the agreement." Edison said to the demons as he flipped his communicator.
"Get some sleep. You're going to need it. Energize."
A day passed after the plan was formulated between the starfleet officers and the demons. In that time, Edison had mainly been coordinating all of the departments in order to successfully complete the task. Engineering's job was the most daunting, theirs was to synthesize all of the materials needed and to moreover build the clinic and the food banks. Science's task was to organize all of the medical supplies and drugs needed such as cures, antibiotics, vaccines, hyposprays, and equipment just to name a few of the many things they needed to hold up their end of the agreement. Security's job was to make sure all Starfleet assets were secure and not tampered with. All of these combined, Edison, and along with the rest of the senior officers hoped that this would uphold their end of the agreement and would allow them to gain critical information.
Edison groaned to himself as he sat alone at the mess hall. It was around quarter after five AM. He probably hadn't slept in at least a day or so, and his only comfort he had right now was a cup of recently synthesized coffee. His brown leather jacket and off duty clothes was replaced with his maroon uniform and was trying his best to not get any coffee stains on it. He was isolated in the mess hall, there wasn't anyone in there besides. It reflected his own personal life in a twisted sense. Sure, he was one of the youngest captains in the fleet and at the prime in his career, but what did he have to show for it? All of his friends and family were in a different dimension and little hope for any return. He tried to put all of those thoughts into the back of his mind before someone walked into the mess hall. Turning to see who entered, Edison saw that his communications officer, Rolf Reynolds. At first he nearly jumped when he saw Edison there, but his fear soon died down as Edison tried to calm things down.
"Early waker?" The captain commented.
"I mean, if you call me not sleeping early waking." Rolf joked to calm the situation.
"Why don't you sit down?" Edison suggested, pulling open a chair beside him. "It's pretty lonely down here."
"Thanks." Rolf thanked as he sat down next to Edison.
"So what is your opinion on our new allies?"
"I…" Rolf started before sighing. "I don't know. They seem pretty nice I guess, but they're demons. I don't know yet if I can trust 'em."
"I get your point." Edison said as he took a sip of his coffee. "I think that mindset is very justified against Alastor and maybe Niffty and Charlie if they are extremely good at hiding ulterior motives. But I highly doubt the later two or the rest are scheming something bad for us. The fact is that they are too predictable and some of them continue to show genuine compassion and care for each other." Edison said to Rolf before realizing that he spoke for a hot minute.
"...Did I just monologue again?" Edison asked. "Sorry, it happens to the best of us."
Letting out a chuckle, Rolf responded. "It's alright." He said before looking downwards at the table, like if something was on his mind other than the tangent about the demons and the hotel. Noticing this, Edison tried to get to the bottom of it
"Anything wrong? You look down." Edison asked.
"I…ummm. I guess I just can't get the fact that we may never get back home out of my head." Rolf sighed
Edison exhaled. He knew what Rolf was going through, it was a sentiment that was shared with nearly everyone on the ship. Himself especially. It's been two days since they've first arrived and things still look bleak, with their only hope lying that a princess might know something about inter dimensional travel. "I know. I guess I share the feeling with you." Edison said to Rolf.
"Mind if I ask, do you have anyone back home?"
Rolf was nervous as Edison spoke. But his eyes told everything before he even let out a word.
"His name's Costanzo. We've been dating since back at the academy." Rolf said as he cleared out his throat. "We had our anniversary before we left drydock back on earth." Rolf managed to get out of his throat as he tried to keep his composure in front of the captain. "I just don't want it to be our last one." Rolf said gloomy as he cleared out his eyes.
Edison patted Rolf on the back as he talked about his loved one. He could relate to him, you love someone with all of your heart and one day you don't know if you'll be able to see them again. It keeps you up at night, which was happening right in front of them.
"I'm sorry lieut-" Edison said before changing what he said. "-Rolf. I can understand what you're going through if it's any comfort."
"It's okay. We'll think of something right?" Rofl chuckled to help brighten the conversation.
"Do you have anyone back home waiting for you?" Rolf asked the Captain.
"Me? I-" Edison jumbled for a second before regaining composure. "I mean I used to. But things don't really work out every time don't they?"
"If you don't mind me asking, what were they like?" Rolf inquired.
"I mean, I don't like talking about us. Never had ever since we last saw each other." Edison paused. " But… she was one of the kindest people I've ever met. And I guess deep down, I still love her."
"Sorry if this is pushing it but, what went wrong?"
Edison turned to Rolf. "I don't want to talk about it. End of discussion." He said in a stern, finalizing voice.
"I'm sorry captain, I guess I'm just worried that as we are away my boyfriend may move on thinking I died as time passes."
"I understand; it's okay." Edison responded to Rolf. But as he was starting to relax once again, he froze at Rolf's worry. "That's…" Edison said before he took a gulp of coffee. "...That's what I'm worried about."
A moment of silence passed between the two before Rolf broke it.
"You know I've been thinking, if our new princess ally isn't able to help us get home I could begin to monitor communications in hell to try and find if there are certain people or sets of data that could find us a way out. Just like the computer but more specific while it's still gathering general data."
"Yeah you do that." Edison said before whispering to himself. "And if all else fails…We can always do the 'overloading-the-main deflector-and-make-a-crater-the-size-of-New-York-City' trick."
A few hours have passed, and Edison is still clutching the same cup of lukewarm coffee. He took some energy pills from the clinic to keep his mind up, but that would only last for so long. He needed to make sure that construction would be under way and be ready at the designated time formulated by himself and the princess. But as he fought himself to keep himself up right as officers walked by him in the lobby of the hotel, he figured the hard part was him trying to keep himself awake.
As he passed by his medical officer however, no amount of his willpower could hide the signs of sleep deprivation from Kylkuc.
"Captain a word please."
Knowing better than to argue, Edison followed Kylkuc into a corner of the room away from prying ears.
"Captain, when was the last time you obtained over 8 hours of sleep?"
"I don't know-" Edison responded. "Three days ago I think? It was before we came to this hellhole."
"Do you believe it is stress related due to your presence in a place of torment present in Terran mythology?"
"Well let's see, we are literally in hell and our only hope is that some princess knows anything about inter dimensional travel. So yeah, I think it is stress induced."
Nodding Kylkuc gave his recommended treatment. "Regardless of its cause I am prescribing you a sleep inducing agent that should last a full day. You should only require around 12 hours to fully recover, but it would be better to keep your sleeping schedule and internal clock intact as well as ensuring the caffeine in your system is fully gone."
"I'm not sure that is the best idea given my current duties as captain right now, especially in times such as this."
"Captain, you will not be able to continue those duties for long and your current level of sleep deprivation will ensure you perform your duties to substandard levels of performance. Me and the other senior officers are substantially capable of managing without your presence for one day."
"What? No, no, I have to get this thing underway, it's the only-!"
"Captain, with all due respect, you are holding your coffee upside down." Kylkuc said as he pointed to the cup that Edison was holding. Sure enough, he was holding it upside down.
Knowing Kylkuc was right, Edison sighed. "Very well, Commander Sh'ithiaqos is in command while you all have jurisdiction over your own departments."
He flicked his mug as he spoke into it. "One to transpor-" He said before realizing what he'd done. He put down the mug before he reached down for his communicator and flipped it open. "One to transport. Energize."
Meanwhile, in a different part of the happy hotel, Alastair and a team of engineers had begun the tedious work of creating and assembling the fusion reactor that would be housed in the basement of the hotel. The first process would be initiating the fusion reaction, which would be started by Calibrating the fusion chain reaction inside of the subatomic intermix power field. The second and most important process of the plan was to keep the reaction from stopping. This would have to be the responsibility and duty of the Energy-nitron coils that laced the inside of the reactor, which kept the reaction from stopping due to its power enhancing qualities. All of this would have to be done soon. And so, the engineering team went to work.
By the end of the day the reactor was a third of the way finished with the completion of the third set of the power field coils, while progress on everything else was building the structures needed for the clinic and the food synthesizers. Seeing that it was time to retire Kylkuc was about to reach for his communicator before the doors into the room of the clinic were slammed open. Everyone still in the room turned to see what caused the doors to slam open while a security officer almost let loose a stun blast before they realized who it was.
It was Angel Dust.
Only he was clutching his side, was sporting a nasty black eye, several scratches, tears were streamed across his face, and his legs were trembling so hard they barely held him up.
He said something ineligible before his legs gave out and he fell down to the ground, barely catching himself with his hands before Kylkuc had grabbed one of his arms using his natural Vulcan strength and hoisted it over his shoulder before helping the demon to a chair.
It seemed as though his work for today wasn't over yet.