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Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #25 –
[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Simon now had all the information about the whereabouts of everyone that had infiltrated their ship. The only way to get the info out seemed to be the biggest problem yet. While his mind raced to come up with fresh ideas to alert non treacherous personnel the Vulcan captain came to stand before him. His eyes locked in with hers as she placed her cold yet seemingly delicate hands against his temples. His brain grinded to a halt as he realized that she was here to perform a mind meld. His eyes fixated on T'Rena now and his face seemed neutral. How long would it take for such a meld? How would he feel after it? Would he be aware of his choices?

As these questions filled up his head he thought about the mind meld for a second. Purely out of a scientific point of view it would be interesting to experience such a thing. Yet given the current situation he wasn't sure if it was a good idea. God knows what 'truth' they'd force upon him. No, a mind meld in this circumstances sounded more and more as a 'not to do' thing. Simon made his choice and before T'Rena managed to initiate the mind meld he slapped her hands away from his temples. "I don't need your path. I'm pretty sure that if there is an error I'll fi-" His sentence broke off mid phrase as the guards around the new captain saw a potential danger in him. Two shots were fired from each side of T'Rena, both of them stinging hard into the chest of Simon, launching his back a few meters before he collapsed onto the floor behind his panel. The world had gone dark for Simon and the last thing that went through his mind was 'How would Tia be?'

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #26 –
Aisha could do nothing but watch in horror as the events unfolded. 'No S'iti,' she thought to herself.  'A snake does not randomly strike.  A snake waits for only the perfect moment to strike. then does so with lethal proficiency.  Bide your time and wait for when the time is right to reveal your true feelings.  For now go along with the plan and make sure you don't end up like them.'

She sighed as she dug herself into her work plotting courses and assigning settings and optimal locations to the design of the minefield they would soon be seeding.  As she watched everything unfold she swore one thing.  She would not become one of the green blood's mindless Borg drones.  She had kept herself this long going along with Vasser's plan.  Still perhaps she could do something.  "Captain T'rena Are you sure it is wise to mind meld everyone you encounter.  Our greatest tactical strength against the Calamity has been our ability to be unpredictable and present multiple non standard actions to counter their more conventional Federation tactics.  If we have everyone behaving all like you can it not be inferred that the calamity will have an easier time countering our actions since many of the crew will be acting on similar tactics that you would employ.  Perhaps it would be wise to at least keep some of the senior staff of the Theurgy unaltered at the very least until we have secured the Calamity."  she suggested hoping perhaps either the Vulcan and her cohorts would be distracted enough that at least one of the officers could escape or even better hoping she could convince the Vulcan that perhaps they could be more useful unaltered at least for the time being.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #27 –
T'Rena's countenance had not chanced the least when the Chief Science Officer slapped her hand away from his face. Rather than any verbal or bodily reaction, one might say her security guards acted in her stead, the swift retribution being the brutal way that they shot the human down where he stood - trained as they were by T'Rena since she had once been their Chief of Security.

Before T'Rena silently moved on to Natalie Stark, Aisha S'Ithi spoke up - again - with concerns about the way events were unfolding. Had she truly thought seizing command of the Theurgy would have been so easy? That the crew would accept the change of command without a single thought? That the Senior Staff wouldn't likely be loyal to Captain Ives unless they were shown the error of their Commanding Officer's ways? Losses were inevitable, and given what was at stake, there was no room for doubt. The future of the Galaxy depended on them to carry on, and to preserve essential assets from falling victim to the corrupted fleet they had once belonged to.

"You do not understand, Chief S'Ithi," she said to the Chief CONN Officer, "In no way does the mind-meld make the members of the crew predictable. Their behaviour or means for initiatives is neither impaired or made to resemble my own. I merely show them the future, and let them see the logic behind changing the course we are currently set upon. They can see that reentering the Alpha Quadrant will likely lead to the death of us all, while making a tactical retreat will let them live and - eventually - retaliate. Reclaiming their home worlds in greater force."

While being the truth, she omitted the way in which she forced the understanding upon them for sake of efficiency and less room for needless doubt. It hardly mattered what their inferior minds might come up with to second guess her logic. It would merely take up too much time to have to argue with children about the necessities of their current situation. Perhaps the Cardassian needed to shown the future as well, despite the fact that she had known what was at stake and had served aboard the Harbinger for many years.

Without further adue, T'Rena turned to Natalie Stark and stepped towards her - raising her hand...

OOC: It does not matter if Brutus or Cathreen Dawinter goes next now.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #28 –
The hostile takeover had come as a surprise and she hated to think that Captain Vasser had anything to do with his. There had to be another explanation to what was going on. Leaning back against the turbolift her arms crossed over her chest. Her tail once more started softly waving behind her. What she was doing was wrong this much she knew. Vasser was her captain and she should treat him as such. But really this? She held no loyalty to Ives but all this spoke too much of cowardice to her. As the turbo life came to a stop and the door slid open she was met with the sight that told her that this was all too true. "Truly this is the level of cowardice that you have sunk to?" she asked not bothering with the fact that she was addressing a commanding officer in such a manor. "I understand things are not idea but this is not our ship and doing this is wrong," she stated as she slowly made her way a little further onto the bridge. "But this is the act of a spineless gutless creature with no sense of honor or right,"

Cam's eyes quickly moved to the winged woman who had come on seemingly to confront what was going on. She knew peoples eyes would be on her as she slowly moved trying not to draw attention to herself. Her eyes quickly darted to the  turbolift before slowly scanning around the bridge seeing everyone's eyes where else where. Cam could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she all but dashed the last little distance before the door slid shut and she found herself heading down hopefully to free Ives if she could.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #29 –
When the Petty Officer with the horns and the tail emerged from the turbolift, T'Rena had lowered her hand from Natalie Stark's face and turned towards the newly arrived Security Officer. She did not raise her hand phaser towards the... What as it? The Asurian, which was the name of the creature that Dyan Cardamone hard revealed herself to be, but the security guards on the bridge all turned towards her with raised phaser rifles - evaluating her as a threat with their eyes along the sights of the rifle. T'Rena listened to what the Petty Officer had to say, remembering her prowess when the two of them had hunted down Sonja Acreth outside the bridge of the Harbinger. The cold analysis in her head made the woman a threat, for certain, but it seemed she had come to try and reason with Commodore Vasser.

T'Rena had seen them, from afar, during the Festival of the Moon, and knew that they had been intimate with each other. It certainly did not spark any jealousy in T'Rena. Not at all. The impulse to burn a hole through Cardamone's torso with the hand phaser in her hard grip was merely instinctive because she wanted to protect the saviour of the galaxy. For certain. Moreover, she could not allow her - being an unknown risk element - get too close to the Commodore.

Yet since T'Rena was looking at the Asurian... she almost missed the movement in her peripheral vision when the Yeoman dashed towards the closing turbolift doors. "Henshaw," she said in warning, and set off towards the escaping human, already firing her phaser as she moved. Her bursts were mere moments too late, scourging the metal of the sliding doors. The human got away... just when Sjaandin Fedd returned empty-handed together with his security guards - obviously not having secured the Intelligence Officer and the Chief Engineer either.

With the Yeoman escaping as well, T'Rena was not agitated. Merely prudently quick about dealing out new orders to the Betazoid when she rounded on him. "Since you vouched for her, Mister Fedd, then you will kill her, or bring her to me. Yet first... you must find the other two before they cause any real damage. The Yeoman is obviously a lesser threat. Move out, and do not fail us again."

"Yes, Captain," said Sjaandin with a tight-lipped expression, obviously not too happy about being mistaken about Yeoman Henshaw.

No more had T'Rena given her orders, doing so while stepping back towards Vasser, Stark and Cardamone... than she brutally kicked the Asurian right at the back of her leg - forcing her down on one knee. She was Vulcan, and the Academy's foremost hand-to-hand combat specialist, and she wasted no time wrapping her arms around the creature's neck from behind. The Petty Officer might fight all she wanted, but she had no means to reach her, and she would be too late. Her free hand was already fixed firmly against the side of her face - fingers splayed across her pale skin. With the headlock in place, and her lips right next to Cardamone's ear, she spoke in her dry tone of voice - the mind-meld flaring into the Asurian's mind while she was being suffocated. T'Rena raped her psyche with her convictions, forced her convictions unto the alien before she could pass out. "My thoughts... to your thoughts... My mind... to your mind..." Through the mind-meld, T'Rena found the opportunity too interesting to let it pass, and shared in the intimate memories of the encounter between Dyan and Vasser during the Festival. The whole copulation burned itself into T'Rena's own memories, making them her own. It made her sex damp with lust, but it was merely a bodily reaction, gratifying as it might be. It did not make her lessen her choke-hold on the Asurian. "My thoughts... your own..."

Eventually... by feeling the Asurian relax in her futile struggles, T'Rena knew that she had either passed out or come to terms with the reality of the war. Either way, T'Rena let go, pushing the Petty Officer away from herself as she stood up - barely winded as she shifted her gaze back to Natalie Stark. She would let Commodore Vasser deal with the Asurian. She had orders to execute, and the Chief of Operations was next in line. There was no reason to tarry. There was a lot to be done.

"Resist at your peril," she said as she stepped towards the human once more - no chance for escape.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #30 –
When she had emerged her eyes seemed to focus on T'Rena almost wondering how a logical based being such as herself could condone something like this? She didn't flinch as she found the phasers being aimed at her. If they where to kill her here then she would die doing what she taught was right and her people would remain safe. Safe and untouched by this pluge that was ripping its way through Starfleet. Even though things where desperate right now she still couldn't stand by and let them do this. Her eyes turned to the Vulcan woman who had been there and helped her hunt down Acreth seeing her as the biggest threat on the bridge at the moment. Her eyes darted back in time to see someone escaping through the closing turbolift doors as a small smirk crossed her lips. At least she had allowed one person to escape. "Looks like your getting sloppy," she said as her eyes turned back to the Vulcan.

As she heard them yelling after her Cams steps had quickened seeing the doors starting to close as well as her chance to escape. Escape and prove that she hadn't had anything to do with this. She hadn't wanted any part of what was happening. As she heard the phaser blasts hitting metal and the doors closing behind her Cam slowly sunk down on the floor breathing heavily and thankful she was alive.

Dyan had just opened her mouth to try and reason with her Captain once more when she felt a heavy impact on the back of leg, hard enough to crack the bone slightly as she fell to her knees her mind already switching to fight. A deep growl slipped out of her lips feeling her arm snaking around her neck  choking her air from her as she felt fingers on the side of her face. Her body thrashed and squirmed trying to free herself from the woman's grip as her tail tried wrapping around her leg. Anything to try and get a hold on her.  It was then she felt something pressing into her mind. Trying to force itself  on to her. Rewrite what she knew to be true. As hard as she tried to fight she could feel T'Rena's convictions starting to override her own. It was only out of pure instinct that her thoughts delved deeper into her mind focusing on home and the family that she left behind when she accepted this mission. "Go fuck yourself," she growled out as she focused of the faces of her mother and niece holding on to them as she felt her mind being violated. Already her lungs where burning and her consciousness was starting to fade as more air continued being chocked from her. Slowly she felt her consciousness fading as her world started growing black. Her mind shifted from seeing her family to the last time that she had been helpless. During the war that ragged between her people. She only just was aware of her body slumping to the floor and hearing voices some here far far away. Her mind was slowly drifting back to a war, a violent age when anyone could turn on another. The voices she heard where no longer tarren words but the words of her kind. When her eyes slowly opened all she could see wasn't the bridge of a starship but the thick jungles of a world that hadn't been seen by their eyes yet.

Re: Chapter 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #31 –
[Natalie Stark | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] ]

Well now, this is quite the pickle you've got us into, Nat. The irreverent and totally inappropriate tone that her inner voice chose to use in that horrible moment nearly broke through the burning anger and disgust that threatened to tear Natalie asunder. It nearly caused a giggle for that matter, but even then, it was only a brief flutter in a sea of fear and rage. And iron clad will. A will to not, in any way, allow her mind to be violated. Not again. Not ever.

Her eyes snapped back to the scar faced Vulcan, twin pools of burning blue hate. Listened to her emotionless prater about enlightenment, how they'd been 'blinded'. Natalie knew she wasn't blind. She knew the kind of person Captain Ives was. The stern person he and she had to be. The person that cared deeply about every member of their crew. No. As she watched Simon smack away that strong, brown hand, Natalie realized what she too would have to do.

A thought, as the beam struck out, of how she'd be leaving poor Rory alone again. Simon crumpled to the ground and Natalie tried hard not to flinch. A small prayer to whatever or whoever might be listening to watch out for the bartender who'd given her a - well, not a new lease on life, exactly, too cliche a thought even for then. But still. She wanted more with him than it looked like she'd get, and that nearly broke her heart. Nearly.

The fingers made their approach again, stalled first by the sound of the Cardassian bitch that had replaced Cal. She frowned now, sucking in a deep breath and shooting the woman at the helm a look. T'Rena held perfectly still in front of her, and the still silent Ops officer frantically tried to think of a course of action. She imagined the heat of the phaser emitters pointed at her back, knowing that was all in her head. They did't emit any heat at all. After all, she knew exactly how they were designed, the ways the components worked, how the coil --

The brunette had been spiraling, mind latching on to something pointless to distract herself from the here and the now. And what was going on was almost comedic, a suicidal stupid part of her brain thought. Yet another interruption. A damned spooky looking one. Natalie knew all to well about the Petty Officer. She'd been busy, but she'd read the reports, and did her best to stand still and look unobtrusive as she let the woman be another distraction for T'Rena. Every moment she could get...Her face damn near twitched when the brown hand moved away from it again, and she tried not to sigh in relief.

She jumped when T'Rena fired a shot, her eyes wide, heart hammering in her chest. If she never heard a phaser go off in her presence again, it would be too soon. Yet again, someone had made an escape. And yet again, Natalie couldn't take advantage of it. She fumed,nails digging into her palms, drawing blood.

Natalie stood stock still, watching the sudden explosion of violence across the bridge, unable to move towards the petty officer. She watched in horror of what awaited her. Watched T'Rena dispassionately choke the other woman, forcing her mind, her will, onto the security officer. Watched the Asurian slump, glazed over onto the floor. Her leg was clearly broken, and Natalie couldn't tell from there if the white haired woman had passed out from lack of air, or from the mental assault. Either way...

It was probably the last thing she'd ever do, or say. There would likely be no record of it, as she looked down at Simon's body, slumped into a pile next to her. Looked to the broken body of the Petty Officer, curled on the floor with drool dripping from her lips. The she turned back to T'Rena, suppressing the tremble that threatened to shake her whole body to bits. She took a deep breath, chest rising, filling up. "Go to Hell." She said, firmly to the woman in front of her. Then she spat in her face.

And that, apparently was enough. There was a sharp hiss from behind her, then a whine. A flash of light, a pain radiating from her lower back, square in her spine, just above her rear. It washed over her whole body, setting every nerve on fire at once. She didn't even get to cry out as she flung forward, against T'Rena, before sinking to the ground, seeing nothing at all.

Re: CHAPTER 03: The Captain of My Soul [09: Deception]

Reply #32 –
[ Commodore Declan Vasser ]

Standing with his arms folded behind his back, Declan had watched how his lover from Lohlunat had stepped on to the Bridge, this Dyan Cardamone who had turned out to be one of the greatest assets they could have hoped for. Declan had read the report from Dr. Nicander a couple of hours ago, and it despite how fine a woman the creature had been to him the night before, he raised no word to stop T'Rena when she dealt with her - just looking at the violence taking place with his thoughts on more important matters. The Yeoman managed to escape, as if Sjaandin Fedd and the Maintenance Chief had not been bad enough loss of key personnel already. Stark and Tovarek could be dealt with after they woke up, but the others had to be captured first. As soon as the voluptuous Chief of Operations fell to the floor, Declan stepped towards the CO chair in the middle of the Bridge.

"The Asurian must stay out of harms way. Her body is too important," he said without even glancing towards the white-haired alien on the deck plates. "Lock her into the Brig. As soon as we secure Dr. Nicander, he will begin synthesising more of her blank stem cells. Added with my own DNA, and the results of dissecting Sonja Acreth, we will find the means for victory in the war to come. Detain the other two in Commander Rez's old Ready Room for the time being. We need to secure the ship, and prepare for the arrival of the Calamity."

His prize. His new ship, superior to all... much like himself.

"Maintain current position in the nebula and have all our loyal personnel report on the progress of this take-over. Inform me when the Chief Medical Officer is found. I would like to have a chat with him about how often Petty Officer Cardamone's Velsren sac can truly be drained, and if she can be cloned using the Theurgy's medical facilities. If he can make an Ash'Reem human, then we should be able to grow more Asurians as required."

"Aye, Commodore," said T'Rena, stepping up to Declan's side. Together, they gazed out the viewscreen - the future waiting for them to seize it.

- FIN
 
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