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[2369] Wrath

[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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OOC: Disclaimer that some of this will be dark, and posting will not be overly consistent. Hope you enjoy it anyhow.

At the cockpit of a translucent Romulan fighter, sat a short-haired blonde woman, pointed ears, serious face; with eyes splattered with golden light to match the flares of the star she flew near. In view of her cockpit was a civilian transport, a smuggling cruiser. It held political refugees attempting to cross the neutral one for safe harbor in another system, beyond the grasp of the senate. Beyond, or what they thought was beyond, the grasp of the Tal Shiar. They had crossed the neutral zone four hours ago.

The woman finally spoke something, in Romulan through a secured channel, relayed through a number of systems before finally making its way to its destination. “Viper Six in position for boarding and confirmation, awaiting keyword to proceed.” She flicked the transponder, though remained cloaked as she pulled up on the enemy craft. As she rose from the cockpit chair she relayed her comms into her earpiece before she pulled into her jumpsuit and armed herself with her knife and a disruptor pistol.

The cabin of her fighter smelled...nice. She’d set up an incense burner in the cockpit, something she’d picked up off a Bajoran on the station before setting off. If she was flying solo at least the ship didn't have to smell like old greasy Tal Shiar agents and their kills. She heard her earpiece crackle before a voice broke out into it.

“You are not to be spotted. The ship is not to be destroyed. No transmissions are to escape that vessel. Make it personal. Nobody leaves. No exceptions.” She paused for a moment before examining the crew manifest once. Very few of the names on the list were actually those she was after. She was after four of them. Four of them had stashed themselves aboard the ship and condemned everybody aboard, their families included. She flicked the manifest off and gave a quick nod, as if somebody was watching her. Hell, somebody was always watching, weren’t they?

“Understood.” She echoed. Her ship lowered itself gently onto the outer hull of the ship, travelling at impulse to make some scheduled repairs, repairs of course set in motion by someone else involved in the plan back at spacedock. She felt the soft-lock of the vessels melding together before she opened the airlock and tapped a button on her suit. A helmet erupted from a sort of backpack she was wearing and a light flashed to life as the power went out aboard her ship, the cloak itself being the only thing remaining alive.

She withdrew a plasma torch and cut into the vessel. It was slow. A duranium plated hull was hard even for a disruptor to cut through, a plasma torch was more precise but it took a fair bit more time. The metal itself sloughed away slowly, turning to magma under the heat and vaporizing the instant it came into contact with the beam itself. Ten minutes later, Valyn felt the hull come loose and she lifted it aside. It floated with ease, gravity plating offline; it just spun in a perpetual spin as she threw herself down into what appeared to be a sort of jefferies tube aboard the ship. She tapped her earpiece once. A signal that she was aboard.

She pulled her wrist up and pulled back a flap, which just revealed a blue piece of fabric.

No oxygen here.

She ground her teeth and started to crawl forward. The space was tight. Much tighter than that of a regular maintenance shaft. The space might have been designed to be worked on when one of the lower panels was exposed but in any case, she carried on, army crawling her way forward until she saw a hatch that went below. On the hatch there was a word written. It was written in Federation common, and the ships interior was Federation standard. It wasn’t a Starfleet ship by any means, on the contrary. This ship was older. One look at the electronics around her and she could tell this ship was maintained by one hell of an engineer. She’d seen a power conductor from an excelsior class. Old tech. Less hoops to jump through.

She looked at the hatch and read the words:

‘BARRACKS 2B’

“Shit.” She muttered to herself, almost inaudibly as she raised her wrist up, trying to get a look at the tricorder she’d mounted there, scanning for any lifesigns. There were two of them in the room below her. She also had no idea if or where the next hatch might be. Instead of moving on, she reached forward for a tube, the tube that connected the room to main power. It would still have emergency lighting but fear was just as important a weapon as a disruptor. The moment that lights went out, she heard the panic break out below and went to unlock the hatch. Her move however, went anything but the way she planned.

The hatch, worn from years of use disconnected from its holding and fell straight from the ceiling. It brought a handful of pipes with it. She came slamboring down with it all. Not very graceful and Tal Shiar of her. “What. Was. That?” She heard from her earpiece. She did not respond.

On reaching the surface however, she felt herself already laying on top of a large mound of something. She’d fallen right onto a Tellarite. Probably not dead yet, but he certainly wasn’t moving. Her eyes quickly darted forward to look at the other pair of eyes in the room, hand still wrapped around a spoon of some sort of strange looking blue broth. He was human. He was even handsome. It didn’t matter though. He reached for the communications button on his desk and Valyn leapt forward.

“Stop! I’m not going to hurt you, you just need to tell me a few things.” She smashed his head right into the desk, then flung him aside like a ragdoll, using his own momentum towards the button against him. He stumbled forward, past the set of bunks and over the pile of clutter in a dazed state of mind as Valyn straightened herself out. She was still speaking in Romulan, but luckily, her suit spit out everything she said right back out through a universal translator. She hadn’t put much work into her English. Which was what he assumed this guy spoke.

He stood back up though, fists raised to fight. The guy was clearly not a fighter. Quite the opposite, he wore a white lab coat, and some nice clothes beneath it. Valyn thought that maybe he was a Doctor. Perhaps a scientist. Either way, his stance was off, completely, and just by the way his fists were out she knew she’d bat him away without a problem. He threw a fist at her and she caught it, gripping it tight with whatever strength her Romulan blood offered until she heard a handful of snaps. He started to shout out until she twisted his arm around and covered his mouth with her other hand, muffling his pain. “Quiet.” She growled into his ear.

Until he stopped fighting and crying, she held him there. When he stopped, she forced him to his knees, “Don’t move a muscle.” He did exactly what he was told. He whimpered and he even begged. Valyn knelt down for good effect and picked up a piece of pipe that had fallen with her from the ceiling, placing the cold piece of metal against the side of his neck. “Where is engineering?” His eyes narrowed and his shaking slowed as he processed the question, looking up at her with black eyes. Not human. Betazoid.

“Engineering.” He paused, “Wh-why?” Valyn brought the pipe up as if to swing, “Okay okay!” He started to say again. “Leave this room to the left, go down the hall, you might run into a patrol, but I don’t know. It’s only a one deck ship. The doors are on the right about a hundred feet down, clearly marked.” He was shaking, and had both hands slightly raised over his head. Far. Fear was powerful. Valyn knew. He knew. “You can take me with you if you don’t trust me, or hell take my badge it has my access codes relayed into it." He squeezed his fists and gave her a pained look as he gave up the next piece of information, "I’m the ships medical officer. We're just transporting crops and refugees!" He must have thought her a thief. His codes would give her access to quite a lot.

“I don’t need to take you with me, I believe you.” Valyn gave him a nod and started to lower the pipe. She held up a finger though and started to swing the bat around in a sort of pirouette. “You really shouldn’t have believed me though.” She swung the bat once and hit him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and keeping him right on his knees, just where she wanted to keep him.

“But- you-” He grunted.

She just shook her head before she brought the pipe down in an overhead swing down on his head with a disgusting sounding crunch, “No exceptions.” He wiggled once on the ground, so again she brought the pipe down, blood splattering across the walls of the cabin, and her jumpsuit, and unfortunately her visor. Luckily, she now had oxygen. Another twitch, another swing. She continued until there was little left of the back of the man's head. The pipe dropped to the ground with a clatter and she kicked the body over with a boot, studying the betazoid face, his pained, terrified eyes. Leaning down to take his badge, she searched his pockets for anything else useful, and found a hypospray, which she pocketed.

Another smell reached her nose and she turned around, seeing in the corner a quivering Tellarite woman, sweating from the fear. She was nowhere near the comms, nor had she said a word. Valyn however, dipped her head to one side. She let out a sigh, then looked down to the hatch, as if disappointed that it hadn’t done the job for her. Within seconds however, Valyn was upon the woman, and with one slash had opened her throat with her knife, sending blood pouring down her throat, one quick spray going across her face. She could have used her sidearm, but that would set alarms off all across the ship. She didn’t intend to use it until she had to.

Today wasn’t a day for mercy, she knew that. Today was going to be cold, and it was going to be brutal. “Moving to the corridor. Threat neutralized.” She spoke into the earpiece. Some threat they were. They weren't the threat though. It was the man in her ear. One life got off that ship, or word got out, and her own would be forfeit. The woman was still struggling for breath, gurgling and sputtering for a gulp of air through the blood. When the woman ceased movement and struggle, Valyn pressed the badge to the door and exited the room.


Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #1 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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The door hissed open and Valyn pushed through, her disruptor aimed forward. The hallway was long, and she really didn’t want to use the energy weapon. That’d send the whole ship crashing down on her. She was confident she could probably handle it, but she wanted to do it a bit cleaner. The scene would be far easier to set when she was done if so. Down the hall she saw a single figure, moving along with a flashlight. The figure was facing away from her.

She squeezed her hands and her palms gave a soft glow of acknowledgement before she gripped the wall of the large corridor she stood in, and started to climb it. Every move was fluid, practiced over and over again until it was all second nature. “One in the hall.” On a Romulan ship, he’d have been paired with another officer. They’d cover one another. This was just a Civilian ship, though. Minimally armed, with only a hodgepodge of paramilitary experience among the crew. She rolled her knuckles and fell upon him. The flashlight left his hand, and Valyn caught it before it clattered across the floor. In a single movement, she grabbed him between her thighs and slammed him into a wall with a grunt. Her knife flashed, and he stopped moving. The blade had flown forward, and pierced his chest, likely collapsing a lung and allowing blood to spill into his pericardium, smothering his heart.

She pulled the knife out, and cleaned the blade on the man's clothes before she moved on forward. “Threat neutralized.” The hall was empty then, strangely so. She narrowed her eyes and started moving forward. She knew she hadn’t tripped any alarms or been spotted yet. She also knew that it was nearly a guaranteed eventuality. She just had to clear her way to the bridge. She had to kill communications first. “Heading to engineering.” She reported back, and she crept down the desolate hall. A hundred feet to the right, the doors were large and clearly marked.

‘MAIN ENGINEERING’

Under it was a hazard sign. It was strange, but she continued anyhow. She posted up beside the door and checked her wrist to see a live scan of the inside. There were five lifeforms inside. Three humans, an Andorian, and a Vulcan. A Vulcan? She tilted her head to the side. It wasn’t often she found Vulcans on civilian ships. She was able to locate the communications console based off the scan. Drawing her disruptor, she drew herself up and moved to the front of the door, outside of the range of its sensor of course.

She kicked her left foot forward and the door opened with a low, droning hiss. One of the engineers looked over immediately, but she was faster. She dropped him with a green flash of her disruptor. Before any reaction could be had she fired on an array of consoles, and the bulkhead behind them. Sensors and communications were out, the conduit that connected them to the rest of the ship destroyed. With time, it wasn’t a difficult repair, but the engineers did not have the time.

“Shit!” one of the humans yelled as he appeared from behind a wall, holding a Starfleet issue phaser rifle, and wearing a Starfleet uniform. Her eyes went wide, and she sprang into a different level of training entirely. Instead of diving to the side, away from the Starfleet officers, she ran towards them, throwing her knife into the throat of the man who’d spotted her as she opened fire on another, striking him three times. That just left...the Andorian and the Vulcan.

She felt something heavy connect with the side of her head and she fell to the ground, rolling to the right to escape. The Andorian had smacked her with a spanner, but not hard enough. She threw herself up, and ran forward, retrieving her knife. If he wanted to bring it to melee, she would oblige. However, the Vulcan joined the Andorian, and both charged her.

The Vulcan had armed himself with a knife of his own. She moved to the side, and threw a fist at the Andorian, using the strike to drive her knife into his gut. He fell, writhing and screaming as she focused on the Vulcan. He was tall, and strong.

“Why are you here?” He offered to her, deadpan and emotionless. She offered no vocal response. Instead she drew back her foot to throw a kick at him, which he batted aside with ease.

Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #2 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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The Vulcan swung forward with all the strength his lineage gave him. Valyn ducked the punch, rolling to the right as his forearm connected with a console in a spray of angry sparks. Still, his face gave way for no emotion. Her legs came up in a harsh flick-like motion and the momentum brought her to her feet. However, she crouched, one hand extended behind her as she watched his movement. The moment he pulled his hand free of the console, she jumped up, landing on his shoulders. Truthfully, she was beyond shocked that it’d worked.

Her shock however, was brought to a harsh close as he slammed her backwards into a wall. His hands gripped her tight as he swung back again, holding her in place. The second strike knocked the wind right out of her and she gasped for air, desperately. As she fell to the ground, she brought a fistful of his hair with her, eliciting a pained shout from him.

“Don’t lose your temper.” She shot at him, voice filled with malice. Vulcans. To Valyn they’d always been emotionless, arrogant, self-righteous assholes who’d maneuvered themselves into the Federations inner echelon.

His head dipped to the side as she spoke his own native tongue. “Why are you here?” He said again, his face giving the slightest twitch of...something. Her eyes narrowed and she responded, if she was going to kill him anyways she didn’t see why not, despite the protest screaming into her ear. Her handler for this operation was little more than a junior senator. She had friends in much higher places, he knew better than to make an issue of it.

“Why do you think, to kill you and everyone else.” The momentary distraction of conversation however, was enough for him. He’d grabbed a shard of glass from the console, and he swung forward, slashing Valyn down her flank. As she stumbled to recover from the blow, he rose it again. However, the blade never came down. Instead, Valyn saw a brutal flash of green light connect with the man's back. He dropped immediately, eyes wide with the shock of his own death. Behind him, was what appeared to be another Vulcan. However, the weapon in his hand was Romulan. He was garbed in a long, flowing robe. That of a Vulcan disciple of Surak.

“Who-” She began to speak before she heard the voice in her ear.

“That is our target.” Her face went flat.

He dropped the weapon and smiled at her. “Don’t think I don’t know who you are. Tal Shiar...I must have really rattled the nest this time.”

“NOW!” The earpiece screamed once again. This time however, it was desperate. Valyn knew better than to press her luck in that instance. She brought herself to her feet, her breathing steadied, and she glared at him, unmoving for a moment. Her posture screamed her intention. She was a predator, locking eyes with her prey in the moment before she struck.

He looked entirely unconcerned. He smiled again and let out a deep breath as he opened his palm, revealing a small vaporizer. He took a long inhale off of it, a sharp-smelling cloud pouring from his lips before he spoke again. “Don’t believe everything they tell you. Did they tell you why-” His words were cut off as Valyn swung her arm back, her knife flying forward to impale itself in his chest. She knew that likely, she had severed his superior vena cava, and that his chest was filling with blood. His pleural space was likely punctured as well, immediately collapsing his left lung as the space filled with extrapleural air and blood. He gripped the end of it, coughing as blood seeped from his lips. He held the blade end of it, and held it out to her, stepping forward to hand it off.

She took it.

He fell to the ground.

“Keep moving.” The voice ordered. She saw nothing on him, besides the end of a tattoo that was slowly working up his neck. A miners tattoo, linked with the sigil of the empire. He was a miner...but he was also Tal Shiar agent. The marking on the sigil gave it away to her at once. She’d seen some of her comrades with a similar marking.

“Copy.” She responded, moving further into the ship, leaving the blood-soaked engineering behind her.

Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #3 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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The tattoo had rattled her. She had no idea why she’d been sent. She only knew she’d been sent to kill. She never questioned orders, at least not openly. “Faster” The impatient voice in her ear shouted at her and she winced. She knew that the voice on the other end was...in the grand scheme of things, a nobody. A nobody that was driving her mad. She’d run into one agent, but her gut told her that there were more. More, and with Starfleet.

As she moved further up the corridor to the crew mess the voice spoke up again, but she cut him off before he’d said a complete word. “The more you moan in my ear, the more distracted I am. Respectfully, be silent.” The voice did so, but only for a moment.

“You are insolent…”

Again, she cut him off. “Insolent, no good, insubordinate. Whatever you want to say, I promise you that I have friends in higher places than you. So shut up or I will rip your career up by the root and watch your home burn and family starve. Silence yourself...now.” Her voice was cutting, harsh, and domineering. Her career had required her to gain some political clout, and to be able to stand her ground. Some politician who wanted to use her as an instrument to prove something...did not frighten her in the slightest. Immediately, the comm went dark.

“Id-” She began to mutter, as she saw the door.

‘MESS’

“Approaching crew mess.” She ground her teeth and started at the doorway. Engineering was one thing, now she was attacking crew members while they ate. She was known for her willingness for brutality, but she certainly didn’t enjoy killing them while they ate. It felt...debassed. Wrong. She pressed the button outside the door, and it slid open. What she saw shattered her.

Inside the mess were several Starfleet officers, all unarmed. With them, a variety of civilians. At the head of a table, was another Vulcan, this one however, looked right at her...and he smiled. The faces of the others at the table fell with utter horror and fear. In an instant, she knew. He moved with speed she’d rarely seen. In a flash, he’d produced a disruptor and aimed it straight at her. She too held her weapon at him in turn. They stared at one another for a long time, or so it felt, reading one another with the appraising, critical look of clandestine agents. In moments, they intimately understood one another.

He’d been sent too. She was his backup.

“Join us.” He commanded, but a second later...he’d turned his pistol on the rest of the table and opened fire. One by one, they fell. Valyn too fired on them. They dropped in seconds. He rose, and she realized that the man was incredibly tall, he likely towered over most anyone in his presence at any given time. As he stood, she saw the robe he was wearing, a Vulcan one. He pulled the chair next to him, that was occupied by the corpse of a Starfleet engineer. He knocked the body down with a rough shove, and stood behind the chair. “Dinner was just finished. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste.” He rose his brows at her and she approached. The voice was silent.

As she opened her mouth to question him, he held up a finger. “All in due time.” Slowly, she fell into the chair that he’d held for her and watched him circle back next to her, to his own.

“My name is Narin. Took that fool long enough to send you.” His voice was filled with loathing. Not for her though.

“Valyn-” She started but she was cut off.

“Amarik.” He finished her words and poured her a glass of wine. As he did so, his eyes looked her over in an entirely different fashion than those of an appraising spy.
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Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #4 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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Valyn’s eyes carefully followed Narin as he took a sip of the wine. “That fool in my ear has actively been trying to get me killed.” She ground her teeth and reached forward for her own drink, ignoring the idle smoke rising off the bodies that they had gunned down just moments earlier. She tore the earpiece from her ear and tossed it across the table, towards the other man. The stench was something she was used to, even through a meal. Death was a part of her life, just as much as breathing was.

“That fool is Junior Senator T’sano. Don’t worry.” He reached into his pocket, and produced a small device, clicking it once. The device on the table crackled, and went silent, the idle, muffled shouting going silent. “He’s being dealt with as we speak, my entire intent was...to get you here, child of the Tal Shiar...I misled him about the nature of this vessel. He only had half the truth.” Half the truth. That was the story of Valyn’s entire life.

“You however, Valyn, will get the whole story.” She swallowed and reached forward for the wine, taking a drink. If he wanted to play a game with her, she intended to play along. She doubted heavily however, that he would provide her with the complete picture. That was against their very culture. Secrecy was absolute.

“This vessel carries the data to a weapon detected on a Borg cube. Detailed scans. They aren’t in the main computer, I’ve already looked. They’re in the hands of a deserter. He should be in his quarters about this time. He believes me to be a friend. A Vulcan simpleton without a shred of violence in him. You obviously...know better of me.” He smiled, an eerie but still, striking smile. He knew his strengths, and his appearance was one of them. “We’re going to kill him, and take the data to Romulus. Just us two. Your ship is still near, yes?” His eyes narrowed at her, and a single brow raised ever so slightly, sending a chill down her spine. Chill or not, she took a drink. She didn’t plan on allowing the man to play to her own...desires, as she knew that he was attempting to. Charming or not, she knew better.

“Then...Narin, shall we?” She set her cup down and rose to her feet.

As did he.

Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #5 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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As Narin rose to his feet, he gestured over Valyn, “He’ll answer the door for me but, nonetheless, everyone aboard must be dealt with.” It was a simple statement, and as he finished it, he reached behind his back for his own concealed disruptor, tucked into the waistband of the robe he wore. His meaning was clear to Valyn; anyone in their path was marked for death. Everyone aboard the ship, was marked for death. It was a reality of her occupation though, that the enemies of the Empire must be dealt with, root and stem. She staunched herself, and gave him a nod.

He led her down the corridor, concealing his weapon in the long sleeves of his robe. While they walked, he maintained the emotionless gaze of the Vulcan he’d been portraying, only breaking the look when he first saw someone he seemed familiar with. They’d managed about fifty feet up the long straight hall that ran the middle of the vessel, when a Bajoran officer smiled to greet Narin.

The smile that Narin fired at him, was haunting. Valyn saw the color leave the woman’s face as she realized what was happening. Valyn’s disruptor was up in an instant, a flash of green-hued metal going across her body but before she pulled the trigger, Narin had continued forward, grabbed the officer by the back of her head, and dashed her straight against the conduit she had been repairing.

From the sound of the sickening crunch that came from her head, Valyn knew she was dead on impact. She fell to the floor with a muffled thud. It had been quick, effective, and quiet. A perfect kill. A kill she herself would have made, and yet while she knew that bloodshed was her very skill set, she didn’t exactly take pleasure in the act. Likely that was what made her as effective as she was, to her it was simply her job. Her duty. She took no joy in it, but it was her duty to the Empire to follow out her orders.

Quickly enough, they dispatched a few more in their path, this time with disruptor fire. Within minutes of that skirmish, they’d reached their destination. Narin approached the door, pressed the intercom, and announced himself.

“It’s me.” His dead-on Vulcan impersonation cut the silence like a whip. The door hissed open, but the instant it did, a sound like an explosion went off within the room, and Narin fell to the ground. “Hell!” Valyn screamed, diving forward to cover Narin crawling to cover. He’d taken an impact of some sort to the shoulder. As she rolled in front of the door, she saw what caused it. There was a Vulcan, a rather young one standing in the doorway with a replica shotgun. He racked it, and in a flash Valyn fired her weapon, impacting and melting the barrel closed.

Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #6 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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The smoking barrel drew down on her, but the Vulcan realized what had happened, and without expression, launched the firearm at Valyn at what seemed like terminal velocity. Almost in tandem, he took off towards her. “You will not have it.” He snarled the words at her, still without emotion but just beneath the surface, it was almost as if it was bubbling, a pool of fiery magma sparking and sputtering in every direction. It was an advantage she intended to take advantage of. She saw Narin, briefly, patching his wound behind a crate. She had to buy him time. He was the one who knew where to find what they were looking for after all.

The man grabbed her by the clothing at the top of her shoulders, and threw her, as if she was nothing more than a sack of flower. She clattered into a bulkhead, letting out a pained groan as she made impact. She was certain she’d broken a rib when she’d made contact, but she pressed through the pain, pulling her knife in one smooth motion. A pistol wasn’t going to do her much good this close, more than likely he’d take it from her, and shoot her with her own weapon. That was something she didn’t intend to allow.

Swinging, the blade cut through the air, singing the telltale song of metal slicing through air at speed. “I believe I will have it actually.” She shrugged, a look of amusement growing on her face as her lip twitched. At least this one was putting up a good fight. On her fourth swing, she made contact, slicing across the meat of his cheek and causing that typical Vulcan blood to spill forth. He wiped it away with his sleeve and charged again.

That time, Valyn was ready. She dropped to the ground, letting it absorb the full impact of her as he ran straight over her, stumbling into the crate Narin hid behind.

Like a photon torpedo, something exploded from behind the crate. It was Narin. He’d gripped the Vulcan by his neck and began pummeling his face with a spinner, each blow being met with a repugnant crunch as the bones of his face collapsed with each hit. For what it was worth though, the Vulcan did not fall. Instead, he gripped Narin by the face, causing Narin to once again shout, this time much more ferociously. The Vulcans finger placement seemed…intentional. After a moment, Narin’s movements began to slow.

Valyn threw herself into the fight, pushing herself to her feet and rushing forward, sliding across the ground towards the back of the Vulcan, before she ran the razored edge of her knife across the Vulcan legs, bringing him to the ground at once as she severed the tendon that kept him upright.

He screamed in agony, which to Valyn, was about the most un-Vulcan thing that a Vulcan could manage. Drawing her weapon she aimed it at him, and leaned in close, “Where…is…it…” She panted, slowly but surely regaining her breath. She knew the fight had been quick, but it had certainly been strenuous.

“It’s in his quarters, on his personal console, I’ll take care of it.” Narin went inside to do just that, and left Valyn to deal with the Vulcan.

She intended to make his death quick and clean, but in a flash, he’d grabbed her by the face. A flood of emotion took her over, and it felt as if the ground had fallen from beneath her feet. Her whole world had been turned upside down in a split second, her face in a vice grip. She tried to escape to no avail.

The images she saw were all horrors. All things she had done. All things she’d done for the Empire.

“Guilt.” Was the last thing he said, before Valyn managed to pull the trigger, panting. He released at once, and collapsed, eyes wide open as he fell into his eternal slumber. Through her mind, rushed just what he’d said…guilt. She had never been as monstrous as some of her companions, but what she lacked in monstrosity she made up for in skill. She stared down at him, thinking long and hard, but she already knew it. She knew more about the Vulcan than she ever thought she would.

His name was Toval. He was a father. He was a grandfather. He’d been in Starfleet for nearly a hundred and fifty years, and with a flick of her finger, she’d snuffed him out.

Guilt. That was all that was there for a long moment, before she heard Narin.

“You alright?” He shouted, “I have the plans. Let’s deal with the rest of them amend get out of here.” She heard the console chirp, and Narin left the room, looking at her.

“Did it to you too, didn’t he?” Narin stared at her, blankly.

“Neither of us says a thing, got it?” This time, she barked the order at him, and he gave a nod of ascent.

“I rather enjoy living, so…deal.” He smirked, looked her up and down, and ushered her forward.

Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #7 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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For the truth to come out about what had happened to them, would in the best case scenario, lead to a long and likely painful debriefing until their command had figured out what exactly the Vulcan had planted in their head. Worst case scenario, they’d both be killed simply for good measure. The worst case scenario was usually the most likely when it came to correction within the Tal Shiar.

So she pressed forward, weapon raised, Narin directly behind her. Each person they came across, was given a quick death from there on. It was nothing more than ensuring the task was completed at that point. The halls were littered with the bodies of the fallen, and smelled of burnt flesh and blood. It was a typical scenario in her life.

That time though, she felt a sense of…loss for those that had died. Perhaps it was whatever the Vulcan had done, offered her a glimpse of the lives she’d cut short that day. Offered her just the smallest peak behind the veil that showed them the other side of the curtain, concealed by propaganda and hereditary hatred for the Federation.

After a time they reached the airlock.

“Lower the shielding to this compartment. I’ll transport a torpedo over. There won’t be anything left. It’s been programmed to emit a specific weapons frequency. Won’t look like us.” It would appear Borg. She tapped a control on her waist and her ship drew itself against the airlock, taking the input from Valyn and Narin worked on the shielding, his eyes ever so frequently, and not so coyly drinking in the sight of Valyn from across the room.

“Can I help you with something?” She snapped, meeting his gaze, but…their eyes did lock and Valyn swallowed.

“Nope.” Narin smirked and shook his head. “Shields are down.”

Without delay, Valyn moved to the airlock and climbed aboard her ship, Narin on her heels. He strapped himself quickly into the copilot seat and started the decoupling sequence as Valyn found her own seat, and beamed the torpedo aboard. She took them out, the nimble craft moving at astonishing speed to the safe distance before she turned the ship to watch through the viewport.

Narin tapped a few buttons on his console, and spoke up, “It’s armed.” She looked down at the flashing button before her and reached out, her eyes moving up to stare at the ship. She knew full well they hadn’t dealt with everyone. Just then aboard, there were likely still members of the crew and civilians just waiting…hiding, hoping that Starfleet would come for them

They never would

Valyn tapped the button and the ship seemed to tear itself apart from within in a flash of brilliant green light.

“No escape pods.” Narin said, voice not then filled with joy, but something far more somber. Valyn tapped a key, and the shielding rose before the blast wave reached them, only mildly jostling the small vessel.

Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #8 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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Valyn focused for a long moment, watching the hulking vessel break into millions of smoldering bits right before her. She tapped a few commands and the computer made an unpleasant honking sound, though she gave a nod of approval.

“No bio signs.” She tapped the control again, and another sound, akin to radar, began to play from the console. “And-“ She reviewed her scans, checking the weapons readings that were generated in the explosion from the modified torpedo. “Weapon signs all point to the culprit intended…” She trailed off. The weapons signs were generated exactly as intended, pointing to an enemy who in truth hadn’t been anywhere near them. It was simply meant to throw Starfleet for a loop. Their data goes missing, along with their ship and crew and the evidence all suggested an enemy that they couldn’t face conventionally in their wildest dreams.

Behind her, Narin was hard at work reviewing the scans with his own eyes, Valyn not having bothered to remove that console access.

“Borg weapon signs?” He raised a brow at her, standing from his seat as he approached the front of the ship, to get a better look out the viewport. The two Romulans were right beside one another, staring into the debris. They were far enough not to be able to make out too many specific details, and likely most of what was inside had been incinerated in the blast. That was a small blessing.

Whatever the Vulcan had done, had done a number on the both of them. Both, typically catty and sharp witted Romulans were simply…silent.

Re: [2369] Wrath

Reply #9 –
[ Valyn Amarik | Federation Space | Neutral Zone ]
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Narin was staring into the wreckage, though every so often, Valyn good see his attention shift to her in her peripheral vision. The stares he’d been offering her all day, continued then, in her ship. She let out a breath, and entered a series of commands into her ship, looking over at him before pressing one final button.

The vessel seemed to turn on a dime, and within seconds had entered warp.

“We have a few hours until we reach Romulus. Data.” She opened her hand, demanding her mission objective from Narin. Her face gave absolutely no ground, and she was clearly not in the mood for games when it came to her mission. Narin, for his part, didn’t argue with her, instead simply handing it over to her to do with as she pleased.

“My task was completed anyhow, that Vulcan was my task. In the case that you failed, I was to complete the mission, but looking at your background I didn’t imagine that you would fail.” He shrugged then slowly stood, having to crouch down a bit within the ship. Narin was a remarkably tall man, he absolutely towered over Valyn.

She stowed the data, ready to be handed off to her own handler before she too rose. She stared at him for what felt like an eternity, fire in her belly, and rage on her mind. Despite what the Vulcan had made her feel, he also made her feel…violated in a way. He’d dug into her mind without permission or even slight agreement from her, and planted the seed of his own though. Narin, while as violent and duty-obsessed as Valyn, had done no such thing to her, or to any of the crew they’d only just finished with.

Seeing him standing there, she made a choice.

She would take back her choice, and force the Vulcan out.

She reached out and in a single, fluid motion, ripped the robe Narin wore straight down the front, shoving him into a bulkhead as she threw herself upon him. Narin, had no objection, responding in kind by tearing her uniform down the back.
 
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