"That was a hell of a thing"

[Atragon9 0]

{{Tomorrow night's sim will mark the 17th anniversary of the Manticore's first sim, April 27, 1998, as I look back on 17 years, I get... sentimental}}

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~The crew of the Manticore is back together, the ship is intact, the mission is unknown, but we will all face it together~

 

These random, wondrous thoughts are the kind that keep flowing through A9's mind. He supposes he never really knew how messed up he was until he was kidnapped, tortured and presumed lost forever. Starfleet Medical has always performed miracles, medically speaking, and Atragon realized they did so with him, even though he never thought he needed one. He was so messed up, he didn't have the strength or will or desire to cut short the therapy, the repairs they performed on him - with him. He didn't realize it, at the time, but between the state of his mind / body and the fact that Manticore was gone for a year and not a "distraction" for him, it was the perfect equation to get him to his current state. Happiness.

 

That may be too simplified, as it was also contentment, renewal of his desire for "the mission," the sharpening of his skills, the sharpening of his mind, the clarity of focus, the quiet calm and deep internal resource pool. He was at the right place in his life, at the right place in the fleet. While the crew took a month off to get their own lives back in order, he took his time exploring and re-discovering the Manticore. He thought back to when he fought the Council to get Manticore commissioned, to give him the mission, his utter and total conviction of doing the right thing for All The Right Reasons. It has been years, with a lot of ups and downs, but he never felt more in line with his core, his psyche, the needs of the fleet and his ability to deliver.

 

Of course, he wasn't the CO or XO of the ship anymore but, hey, technicalities, eh?